just as did the apparent motivation to invent writing. was related to the bureaucratic needs of the newly emerged complex states. This is the first time that the 5. or treaties to other people thousands of kilometers away. unquestioned part of our cultural landscape. Yet in the earliest states. and the hieroglyphic writing of Mesoamerica was motivated by religious beliefs. the earliest writing in Egypt. indicating that the early state needed to keep records of the people who worked for it. seems to be more about ceremonial display. from the site of Uruk. By putting spoken language into visible. it is hardly surprising that the earliest writing and the written word itself would have seemed mysterious.
W
7
. literacy — the ability to use the marvelous invention of writing — is largely taken for granted. one cannot fail to be impressed by the wonder of human creativity in these independent inventions that fundamentally transformed the very nature of civilization. Seeing these four examples of the earliest writing together in one place. Our exhibit draws upon the most current scholarship to take a more nuanced view. It is clear that in Mesopotamia. Once it was thought that writing. Writing allowed the bureaucracy to have an institutional memory that extended beyond the lifetime of any single priest or scribe. along with Chief Curator Geoff Emberling and Special Exhibits Coordinator Emily Teeter.300-year-old clay tablets from Uruk — the earliest writing we know of so far — can be seen in the United States. or even centuries later. we estimate that literacy was limited to less than 1 percent of the population so that it was rare for even kings to know how to read and write. people could for the first time store information and transmit it across time and across space. Stein Director. and the taxes it collected. Yet it was not always this way. regardless of where it was invented. and the Maya world. The very ubiquity of writing in our civilization has made it seem like a natural. Egypt. powerful. are economic records. I want to thank Christopher Woods. for envisioning and creating an exhibit that not only educates us. For example. Writing continues to fill those exact same needs of the state. In much of today’s world. five thousand years later. The specifics of writing varied from place to place. although related to state concerns. while writing in China is first attested in divination rituals. oriental inStitute
riting is one of the most important inventions ever made by humans. material form. writing is a relatively recent invention — just over five thousand years old. In this context. the food rations it disbursed. and Mesoamerica. and even inspired by the gods. Visitors to our exhibit and readers of this catalog will be able to see and compare the parallel pathways by which writing came into being and was used by the earliest kingdoms of Mesopotamia. China. Writing was the world’s first true information technology. China. Exhibit curator Christopher Woods has done a remarkable job in bringing together the world’s earliest known examples of true writing. writing only came into existence with the emergence of state societies or civilizations. Egypt. instructions. but helps us to see this fundamental and unquestioned part of our life and civilization in an entirely new light. How and why did writing first appear? One of the most important aspects of writing brought out in this book and exhibit is the fact that it was invented independently at least four times in different places in the Old World and Americas — in Mesopotamia. while showing us the contexts in which the first visible language was used. and perhaps to a lesser degree in Egypt. Although anatomically modern humans have existed for about one hundred thousand years. and it was revolutionary. The earliest written texts from Mesopotamia. It meant that people could send letters.FOrEwOrd
Gil J. It meant that a person’s words could be recorded and read by others — decades.

.

and Hans Nissen provided a crucial photograph. assisted by Allison Drtina. Exhibits are vast collaborative efforts. and Adam Aja at the Harvard Semitic Museum. Michael Vannier of the University of Chicago Medical Center. and Beate Salje. and Molly Woulfe) has once again provided valuable advice in the planning stages of the exhibit and associated programs. Berlin. The result is a careful look at a subject that is fundamental to understanding past societies. and Angela Steinmetz at the Smart Museum of Art. Robert K. editing. Assistant Curator of Digital Collections. Here at the Oriental Institute. Curatorial Assistants Oya Topçuoğlu and Elise MacArthur undertook a range of duties. it will come as no surprise that a major challenge for this exhibit and catalog has been to limit our scope. oriental inStitute muSeum
iven the fundamental importance of writing to the rise of civilizations. and Kathryn Weber for the splendid new photography. Curator Christopher Woods has maintained an admirably clear focus on inventions of writing — on the early writing systems themselves. Englund prepared the diagrams of the early cuneiform tablets. Thomas James. Anna Ressman assisted by Kevin Duong. Richard Townsend. for permitting us to reproduce images from their publications. from facilitating the ability of bureaucracies to control their subjects to fundamentally changing the nature of literature. respectively. Alison Whyte and Laura D’Alessandro. our conservators. Dianne HanauStrain. Our Community Focus Group (Angela Adams. Lawrence Stager. Randy Adamsick. kept the catalog and exhibit on track. Anthony Hirschel. Nathan Mason. from object selection to case layouts and authoring object entries. Erik Lindahl and Brian Zimerle. Thanks to our colleagues at lending museums: James Cuno. were responsible for the overall design and installation of the show. we thank our staff: Registrars Helen McDonald and Susan Allison. Richard Born. Joachim Marzahn. supplied information about some of the tablets. Ulla Kasten. and in our Photo Department. Ramona Föllmer. for preparing the objects for exhibit.prEFACE
Geoff emberlinG chief curator. We also thank the anonymous reviewer of the exhibit catalog for helpful comments made under pressure of time. We thank Matthew Stolper for allowing the museum to use the Persepolis Tablet Project’s PTM photography set up for some of the exhibit materials. Amy Dowe. Joseph Greene. Our Publications Department. We also thank Oriental Institute Director Gil Stein and Executive Director Steve Camp for their consistent and generous support of the exhibit program. and Olaf M. Patty McNamara. Emily Teeter. Cesário Moreno. aided by Monica Witczak. Head of Public Education Carole Krucoff and intern Melanna Kallionakis Smith provided valuable recommendations on exhibit design and writing. Robert Wagner kindly provided translations of the catalog entries from the Vorderasiatisches Museum. We do not discuss every script used in the ancient Middle East (to say nothing of the rest of the world). designed interactives for the exhibit and Web site. Elinor Pearlstein.
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G
. It is a great pleasure to thank the many people and institutions who made this project possible. The exhibit team. Special Exhibits Coordinator. and producing this catalog. Assisting Christopher Woods on the curatorial front. Andrew Dix. Teßmer at the Vorderasiatisches Museum. Dr. Thomas Urban and Leslie Schramer. Tablet Assistant for the Oriental Institute’s Tablet Collection. and Carl Kaufman at the Yale Art Gallery. we do not enumerate every use to which writing was put. especially ones that include more than twenty authors and loans from five different museums. Dianne Hanau-Strain of Hanau-Strain Associates designed the elegant cover and gave good advice. demonstrated their usual good cheer and efficiency designing. or discuss in detail the many changes that writing enabled and imposed. We appreciate the generosity of the Egypt Exploration Society and Günter Dreyer. led the CT examination of the Mesopotamian token balls. and Angie Morrow at the Art Institute of Chicago. who did so much to organize and facilitate the loans. Colin Halverson. Christine Carrino.

Kimball Brooker. We also appreciate the support of T. Julius Lewis and the Rhoades Foundation. would have enjoyed this show. It is with a tinge of sadness that we also thank the Rita Picken Memorial Fund. The Women’s Board of the University of Chicago generously underwrote the exhibit catalog as well as a portion of the exhibit costs.PrEfACE
A number of companies and individuals showed their support for this exhibit. Mary and Charles Shea. David and Judy Harris. Toni Smith.
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. a long-time volunteer at the Oriental Institute. Rita. and Anna White for their enthusiasm for the project. We also thank Exelon for their ongoing support of our special-exhibits program. and a sharp-witted and warm-hearted supporter. Catherine Moore.

Geoff Emberling is Chief Curator in the Oriental Institute. François Gaudard is an Egyptologist and Research Associate for the Chicago Demotic Dictionary at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.CONTriBuTOrS
About the Contributors:
keb Kathryn E. the history of the ancient Near East. historiography. His research focuses on Northwest Semitic philology. Julie Stauder-Porchet holds a research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Chicago. She is the Editor-in-chief of the Chicago Demotic Dictionary. and on reconstructing the academic legacies of collectors and scholars who formed and defined these collections. Joel W. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. the history of science. Edward L. Monica L. Joachim Marzahn is Senior Curator of Inscriptions in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. literary texts. University of Chicago. and his research interests include ancient ethnic identities and early Mesopotamian urbanism. His research specialties include Maya hieroglyphs and art. Berlin. Palka is Associate Professor of Anthropology and Latin American Studies at the University of Illinois-Chicago. Her current research interests focus on anthropological linguistics in third-millennium bc Egypt. His research interests include ancient Egyptian linguistics. He has been an epigrapher for the Epigraphic Survey. His research and publications focus on Sumerian and Akkadian inscriptions. writing systems. Elinor Pearlstein is Associate Curator of Chinese Art at the Art Institute of Chicago. Her interests include Sumerian and Akkadian language and early Mesopotamian history. the field headquarters of the Oriental Institute in Egypt. He has directed excavations in Syria and Sudan. Andrea Seri is Assistant Professor in Assyriology in the Oriental Institute and the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations of the University of Chicago. and literature. Shaughnessy is the Creel Distinguished Service Professor of Early China in the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. and Program on the Ancient Mediterranean World. Elise V. including comparative issues. and ceramics. bronzes. Johnson is the Morton D. the early state. She specializes in the earliest phases of Egypt’s history and culture. and a variety of museological topics. and Maya culture change in post-conquest Mexico and Guatemala. Crews is a graduate student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. and scribal traditions. Andréas Stauder holds a four-year research grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation and is a post-doctoral fellow at the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Bandy is a graduate student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Joseph Lam is a PhD candidate in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. based at Chicago House. Her dissertation focuses on hieratic administrative texts and local and regional administration in Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period. MacArthur is a graduate student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Her research interests include Mesopotamian economic and social history. and native conceptions of history. Maya archaeology and history. Hull Distinguished Service Professor of Egyptology in the Oriental Institute. Janet H. He works on the cultural history of Bronze Age China. Her research focuses on the Art Institute’s early Chinese jades.
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and iconography and ethnicity in the Old Assyrian period. and he currently directs the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project at the Oriental Institute. T. and she curated the recent Oriental Institute exhibit. at the University of Michigan. Besides his work on the dictionary. His research has concentrated on the history and texts of ancient Iran and of Babylonia in the first millennium bc. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. He received a PhD in German Language and Literature from the University of Michigan. University of Chicago. Emily Teeter is an Egyptologist. Wilson Professor of Oriental Studies in the Oriental Institute. religion. Research Associate. Theo van den Hout is Professor of Hittite and Anatolian Languages in the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago and Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. His research interests include Sumerian language and writing and early Mesopotamian religion. G. and history. Department of Near Eastern Studies. his current interests focus on ancient record management and early literacy in Hittite society. Program on the Ancient Mediterranean World. Stolper is the John A. Robert Wagner is a volunteer at the Oriental Institute working primarily with German language archival records. Her research interests include seals and sealing practices in the ancient Near East. University of Chicago. literature. and has curated a number of thematic exhibitions on the culture and society of Greco-Roman Egypt. He has written widely on the history.COnTrIBuTOrs
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Matthew W. Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Kelsey Museum of Archaeology. The Life of Meresamun: A Temple Singer in Ancient Egypt. Oya Topçuoğlu is a graduate student in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. and the College. Ilya Yakubovich is a Research Associate at Moscow State University and the Russian Academy of Sciences. Wilfong is Associate Professor of Egyptology. and Editorin-chief of the Chicago Hittite Dictionary (CHD). and archaeology of ancient Egypt in the later periods. Middle Bronze Age Anatolia. Christopher Woods is Associate Professor of Sumerology in the Oriental Institute. and the College. He specializes in Anatolian philology and Indo-European comparative linguistics. and Associate Curator for Greco-Roman Egypt. and Coordinator of Special Exhibits at the Oriental Institute.
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. Program on the Ancient Mediterranean World. Her special field of interest includes popular religion and cult practices in secondmillennium bc Egypt.

is how in Egypt several derivative scripts developed to write the same language. Of particular interest.
T
15
. opinions. in the words of the anthropologist Jack Goody. computers — all the ways in which we record ideas. Mesopotamia. letters. The Conquest of Civilization. the alphabet. stands as one of humanity’s greatest intellectual and cultural achievements. and sentiments — are inconceivable without writing. it would be difficult to dismiss the contention that writing — the boundary between history and prehistory — transformed civilization more than any other invention. Anatolian hieroglyphs. facts. Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond. records. The exhibit also explores a lesser-known writing system. Writing frees speech of these constraints. These are the four instances in human history when writing was invented ex nihilo “out of nothing” — that is. Breasted. In Mesopotamia and Egypt this took place toward the end of the fourth millennium bc. cuneiform. including Akkadian (belonging to the Semitic language family) and Hittite (Indo-European). enabling the recording of information well beyond the capabilities of human memory. While many of us would quibble with the grandness of this claim and its implications for non-literate societies. China. or even decrease.iNTrOduCTiON
ViSiBLE LANguAgE: ThE EArLiEST wriTiNg SySTEMS
chriStopher wooDS aSSociate profeSSor of SumeroloGy. p. of course. or were inspired by. But no less significant developments took place in China at the end of the second millennium bc. was adapted to write several unrelated languages. Our exhibit. force us to augment. or. what writing is to civilization. giving it permanence and allowing it to be transmitted over space far beyond the place of discourse. But at our present state of knowledge. to make language visible. the exhibit addresses the forerunners to writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt as well as the evolution of these scripts. 53–54
he ability to represent language graphically. which was invented to express Sumerian (unrelated to any known language). from scratch — with no previous exposure to. these four. Speech is temporally fleeting and spatially anchored. pp. and Mesoamerica represent the best candidates for the independent inventions of writing. together with the inventions in China and Mesoamerica. Books. we do not currently include among these the undeciphered Harappan script of the Indus valley civilization (mid-third millennium bc). explores mankind’s earliest attempts to graphically represent language. writing underpins ‘civilization. for its status as a writing system and the influence of Mesopotamian cuneiform remain uncertain. whereas in Mesopotamia one script. or knowledge of. the primary focus of our exhibit.” — J. The Middle Eastern inventions of writing. “Cognitively as well as sociologically. with regard to the latter. 300).’ the culture of cities” (1987. oriental inStitute
“The invention of writing and of a convenient system of records on paper has had a greater influence in uplifting the human race than any other intellectual achievement in the career of man. Egypt. In addition to investigating the four pristine writing systems. this number. and in Mesoamerica by the middle of the first millennium bc. Writing also enhances capacity. comprise the four “pristine” writing systems. Future research may. writing. For instance. H. It is an often-quoted sentiment that speech is to being human. as well as the invention of one of the most influential and widely disseminated writing systems. It appears quite likely that all other writing systems either derive from. It was more important than all the battles ever fought and all the constitutions ever devised.

Gelb’s highly influential A Study of Writing. Writing in the New World. In its essentials. Much has changed in the nearly sixty years since the publication of Gelb’s pioneering study. p. Once banished to the fringes of linguistics. Not surprisingly. Finally. it is difficult to accept that Mesopotamian writing could inspire the type of system that developed in China at the end of the second millennium. the modern study of writing systems has its beginnings at the Oriental Institute with the publication in 1952 of Igance J. from southern Iraq.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
Visible Language opens at a time of renewed interest in written language generally and early writing systems in particular. Since Gelb’s day. an area of study that until recently was the restricted purview of a few specialists working with the individual languages. major strides have been made in understanding early Mesoamerican writing and today no one would seriously question the Maya script’s status as true writing. the theory is that writing originated only once. considered the poor cousin of speech. but undermine common assumptions about the origins and evolution of writing — this topic promises to continue to draw the interest of scholars and the public alike. not to mention the distances involved. And with recent finds from Abydos in Upper Egypt — which may very well not only challenge the primacy of writing in Mesopotamia. more particularly. Finally. describing in broad strokes some of the similarities and differences between these systems. which was little understood at the time. the Sumero-Akkadian writing system at that time being so completely different from the one developed by the Chinese. if we may be permitted to boast. eventually to China at the end of the second millennium. Ignace J. Gelb. *** In what follows I discuss some aspects of early writing. These ideas are most closely associated with Gelb. by uncertain processes and mediums. spread during periods of strong cultural influence. Then. claiming that it was not real writing at all. Indeed. it is particularly fitting that the Oriental Institute present an exhibit on early writing. to Egypt at the beginning of the third millennium and. rather than the technology itself. monogenesis and “stimulus diffusion” were the theories of the day. in Mesopotamia with the Sumerian invention. Acceptance of the independent invention of writing in these four cultures naturally raises questions as to their similarities and differences in figure 1. And. And recent finds at Abydos that have pushed back the date of writing in Egypt. the mechanics of each system. namely. this newfound interest in the written word has reinvigorated discussion about the world’s first writing systems. making it contemporaneous with the Mesopotamian invention. both in terms of the cultural context of each invention and. Gelb discounted. although they had earlier proponents and antecedents. A Study of Writing (1952)
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. the idea of writing. given our long history of study in this area. writing has gradually come to be acknowledged as an inherently interesting linguistic and cultural phenomenon in its own right — a mode of human communication parallel to speech and not necessarily subservient to it (Sampson 1985. further undermine the old assumption that writing arose in Egypt under Sumerian influences. 11).

161–62). The tags and jars plausibly relate to the management of deliveries. but was a function. though not necessarily incompatible with it. And the Egyptian invention may corroborate the utilitarian basis of writing. the inscriptions being incised into bone and subsequently colored with black paste (see 6. the invention of writing has been connected to the increase of sociopolitical complexity. utilitarian administrative necessities were nevertheless the driving force behind the invention of writing (Postgate. and Wilkinson 1995). compelling. this volume. pp. invented in Mesopotamia. 308). this volume). 302-03). Given that the vast majority of the earliest cuneiform texts are administrative — detailing transactions involving property. The nexus between administration. The aforementioned tags discovered at Abydos. documenting their places of origin. the clearest evidence is from Mesopotamia. 292–308). personal names. the social component is clearly in evidence as witnessed by the emergent Shang state (ca. for instance. did not give rise to complex bureaucracy. Houston 2004b. Yet. and evolution — in short. where writing is unquestionably bound to administration. or bark or palm leaves in Mesoamerica. These are contexts that may suggest religious and cultural motivations for writing. what may be. It has been suggested that in those cultures for which we do not have direct evidence for record keeping. in all likelihood.
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. Writing here. p. the hypothesis is. Mesopotamia. and the place where writing is first found and. it is claimed. The some two hundred small bone and ivory tags and the more than one hundred inscribed jars found at Abydos bear short inscriptions consisting of numerical notations (limited to the tags) and. which included the emergence of a vast territorial state near the end of the fourth millennium (see Baines 2004. as witnessed by monumental architecture and increased social stratification. social complexity. Uruk writing can be convincingly connected with the dramatic increase in the sociocultural complexity that defined the city-state at the end of the fourth millennium. pp. it can be argued. and the names of institutions. Even in the best-documented case. pp. The earliest writing in the Americas — the undeciphered Zapotec and Isthmian scripts and the first Maya writing — is essentially commemorative with a considerable theological component.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
terms of the social context of each invention. this volume). their structure. in many ways. The Beginnings of Writing in China. and whether we are correct in assuming that writing must have a universal basis in the first place. rather than administrative or economic necessities (see 15. Further. were found within the context of an elite burial and were the result of a fairly laborintensive manufacturing process. these inscriptions recorded the answers to queries that were put to the gods (see 14. and labor — it is indeed difficult not to see the invention of writing as a solution to the practical bureaucratic problems posed by an increasingly complex economy. wood or bamboo slips in China. an expansion that is particularly well attested at the city-state of Uruk — a settlement that in a short period of time became the largest in Babylonia. The Development of Maya Writing. Similar to the Mesopotamian development. Long connected with ceremonial display. and writing is more tenuous in the Chinese and Maya cases. predates the first texts by several centuries (Houston 2004b. to what degree can we speak of writing universals when we consider the pristine systems? *** As for the cultural contexts of the invention. The Earliest Egyptian Writing. early writing in Egypt arguably now finds closer associations with bureaucratic necessity. place names. Written on turtle shells and ox scapulas. many of the glyphs having a basis in long-established iconographic traditions and a calendrical system of great cultural significance (see Houston 2004b. The inefficiency in terms of the effort and costs involved suggests that writing in this case had a purpose beyond practical administration. Although based entirely on circumstantial evidence. the relationship may not be one of cause and effect — for writing emerges at the end of the Uruk period. is to be attributed to the perishable media on which they were likely to have been kept — papyrus in Egypt. The absence of these kinds of records in these cases. 1200 bc). Wang. materials. In China. The Mesoamerican case is even more nebulous. but writing is first attested primarily within the context of divination — for the purpose of recording royal divinations performed at the Shang court. There can be no doubt that the appearance of writing here was closely related to the sudden expansion of Mesopotamian civilization. in the better-understood Maya case. the advent of sociopolitical complexity. appearing just as the sociopolitical institutions that gave rise to it collapse. there are reasons to question the utilitarian basis of all writing.

As Jerrold Cooper points out. One must be able to recover the spoken word. for instance. pp. 29–30). p. and social issues that cannot be accounted for by purely utilitarian explanations” (1994. As Piotr Michalowski reminds us. writing is a response. The fifty-three small circles between the two figures represent fifty-three dollars. writing represents speech. the Incas. *** There is a more basic question that must be addressed before we can speak with confidence about the nature of the world’s earliest writing systems and the roles they played in the societies that gave rise to them — namely. p. p. As defined in a recent survey of the world’s writing systems. Those systems that meet this criterion. which the father is sending Little-Man to cover expenses in connection with the trip (DeFrancis 1989. Broadly defined. musical and mathematical notation. 10). The same can be said for Mesoamerican writing. what is writing? It is a question that is more difficult than first appearances suggest. 30–31). The bond to the spoken word is prerequisite to any definition of writing. the civilizations of West Africa. it appears that we are dealing with likelihoods and general tendencies rather than universals. And so questions remain as to the relationship between writing and social complexity — what role does writing play in shaping civilization? Is writing a defining characteristic of civilization? And. The letter contains a request from the father for his son to return home. or the Aztecs before the Spanish conquest (Trigger 2004. 2). while systems of communication that represent ideas only. international road signs and the like — are labeled semasiographic (Sampson 1985. but even the administrative use of writing involves complex psychological. and writing is often tied to bureaucracy — again as a response. 56). This nineteenth-century pictographic letter was posted by a Cheyenne father named Turtle-Following-His-Wife to his son. and so represent true writing. without that essential bond to speech and so do not meet our definition of writing — for example. The message is quite detailed figure 2. Conversely. 38–39. pp. An often-cited example of semasiography is the so-called Cheyenne letter (fig. The essence of this message — “Come to me” — is indicated by the “speech lines” emanating from the father’s mouth and by two lines drawn from the small figure at the right shoulder of Little Man in the direction of his father. but not the only possible response. of it. are labeled glottographic. writing is “a system of more or less permanent marks used to represent an utterance in such a way that it can be recovered more or less exactly without the intervention of the utterer” (Daniels 1996. is all writing ultimately based in administration and record keeping? At present. to problems raised by complexity” (2004. from a system of visible marks in order for those marks to be considered writing. unambiguously. which likewise makes its appearance shortly before the polities out of which it grew began to crumble (Houston 2004a. p. exceptions. Little-Man. 3). “actuaries have their place in the world. p. not a cause — but there are. 40). pp. writing is not “an obligatory marker for complex societies or civilizations. of course. more specifically. Writing tends to arise as societies become more complex. then this new technology was not indispensable for Mesopotamian administration. both of whom are represented by icons above the drawings of the respective figures. we may point to those complex cultures that managed quite well without writing. And if the breaks in the written record have a reality beyond the vagaries of discovery.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
or end result. Rather. Gelb 1963. ideological. 94). A Cheyenne semasiographic letter
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.

idem 1994. Implicit to most discussions of writing is that the invention represents a punctual event — that there is a knife-edged division between the eras of the oral and the written. pp. early writing contains signs. Far from representing an outdated. the question mark. semasiography is being increasingly used in this era of globalization and mass media. while not representing speech. First. 31–32). in their earliest phases. writing systems have more in common with the semasiographic systems from which they spring than the mature. Typically. 55–56. 59. emblems. in which it is necessary to communicate with speakers of various languages (Sampson 1985. from a structural point of view (Michalowski 1994. In order for the letter to be intelligible. that have an ancestry — for example. writing grows in part out of earlier. long-standing symbolic communicative systems that are not writing at all. 64). primitive form of communication. The systemization of the various elements of the writing was itself a more or less punctual event. or graphs. writing in Mesopotamia borrowed elements from these various non-linguistic structures. But upon figure 3. but. around 3500–3300 bc. At the end of the Uruk period. pp.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
and specific. in terms of the origins of the individual signs. When writing was created. and China — writing appears full-blown. that is. Similar developments are attested for the Egyptian. it is not writing — the message could be rendered in speech in various ways without affecting its essential meaning. between the origins of individual graphs and the origins of the system. An example of contemporary semasiography — closer inspection. but nevertheless may be quite sophisticated: a well-known example is unpacking and assembly instructions of the type given in figure 3 — with the exception of the word “Ikea” in the fourth case. In Mesopotamia — and the same applies to Mesoamerica. full-fledged writing systems that they become. however. Writing already represents a coherent system in its earliest phases. added many new ones. idem 1996. pp. the father and the son presumably would have had a prior understanding of the symbols and their arrangement. clay envelopes. and there is no distinct watershed moment when full speech begins to be made visible. as symbols. In all cases. out of semasiography. between prehistory and history. since it represents ideas rather than speech directly. and numerical tablets. 35–36). Egypt. is more accurately described as an ideogram — representing the “idea” of a question). these messages appear in limited and well-established contexts. pp. counters of various kinds. codified and integrated the whole into a system that was quite different from the ones in which the individual elements originated (Michalowski 1996. p. and Maya systems as well. there were a number of communicative devices utilized by administration that were decidedly not writing. p. This first point is particularly well illustrated in Mesopotamia. 35–36). Rather. reflecting most of the features and
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. There is a distinction to be drawn. Chinese. icons. Second. the entirety of this relatively complex message is communicated pictographically (however. the situation is not as sharply defined unpacking instructions from Ikea as we often assume. it was not a simple evolutionary development since many of these same devices persevered along side it (Michalowski 1990. or pot marks — in earlier communicative systems. The essential organizing principles are in place at the very beginning. These included pictographic and iconographic elements known to us from the glyptic and visual arts.

and so the potential to represent speech was there from the very beginning or nearly so. in fact. as opposed to their semasiographic counterparts and progenitors. in particular.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
characteristics that it would display in its later. Prior to the invention of writing. we do not know how the ancients read these documents. early writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Hundreds of years would pass in most cases before writing was used to record literature. early Chinese and Maya scripts more so. labels identifying funerary offerings. The operative word here is degree. Each of the pristine systems was of limited dissemination and each was used to record information within restricted domains. The invention of writing did not immediately change this. There is an element of economy here as well. In this sense. What is at issue. however. the existence of homonyms in the language is exploited in that the sound of one word. p. thus facilitating the learning of the script. divination records. In the case of Egyptian writing. is used to write another word that is pronounced identically or similarly. in terms of reflecting full speech. is not so different from the Aztec codices that recorded ideas and that we categorize as non-writing (Trigger 2004. 83). offering lists. personal names and foreign words. Writing was regarded
20
. but that we most closely associate with writing. the development of early writing was gradual. as Stephen Houston has pointed out. for early writing did not reflect spoken language. As such. letters. each writing system would evolve further — mostly in terms of sign inventory and the relative proportions of signs representing words and those representing syllables or consonants without meaning (see below) — but these were developments that were separated by often long periods of stability. The rebus principle is integral to eye. over five hundred years would pass before the script recorded continuous speech. grammatical markers. phonetic signs apparently played a larger role in its incipient stage. Rather. *** What systems of communication that eventually develop into full-fledged writing do have. and commemorative stelae have no oral counterparts. mature phases. By assigning homonyms to a common sign. displays a remarkably limited degree of phonetization and use of the rebus principle. mnemonic messages intelligible. invented along with writing itself — “Livestock or ration accounts. Indeed. p. is not so much the evolution of script in terms of developing new strategies. is the degree to which nascent writing systems represented speech. or if it is even appropriate to speak of reading in the sense that we understand it today (2004a. It was not before the first quarter of the third millennium bc that rebus writings would play a significant role. Jerrold Cooper has made the point that the domains in which early writing was used were. but again. 12). The Mesopotamian case demonstrates that we must accept a continuum between semasiography and glottography. early writing systems could rely heavily on oral context and non-linguistic background information to make their abbreviated. and. The rebus principle was obviously known at an early date in both systems. they represent the extension of language use into areas where spoken language cannot do the job” (2004. Indeed. the transmission of information and knowledge was the purview of oral traditions. here the extant materials do not necessarily represent writing in its incipient phases. Early Mesopotamian writing. writing. historical accounts. land management records. the system can make do with fewer signs. such as pronouns. returning to the second point made above. and not until the second half of the third millennium that the linear order of signs reflected sequential speech. The earliest Egyptian writing displays a significantly closer relationship with speech than its Sumerian counterpart. to write the first personal pronoun “I” in a game of Pictionary. What is at issue. is the germ of phoneticism — the rebus principal is integrated into these systems. but rather the limited application of writing and its perception within the culture. 47–48). then. Particularly for early Mesopotamian and Egyptian writing. for the distinction between the two disappears without the representation of connected speech and confirmed rebus writings. nor was it invented to do so. as it allows the writing of those elements of language that do not lend themselves easily to graphic representation. and other genres that originally belonged to the realm of speech. most often one with a referent that can be easily drawn. the bond with the spoken word was tenuous and. which may be the most representative of writing in its earliest stages. Nevertheless. pp. of particular importance for early writing. Certainly. just as we alphabet users might draw the picture of an . lexical texts. That is.

36). much of the linguistic structure. specifically nouns. We must also take into account the way in which language is first committed to writing. But beyond the social perception of writing. morphemes that do not lend themselves to iconic representation can be expressed by relying upon homonymy and the rebus principle. fulfilled different communicative niches than speech. economy is essential to writing and it is for the sake of economy that a phonological dimension and redundancy must be built into every logographic system. and loudness. while undrinkable contains three (the verb drink and the affixes un. And. are most often omitted in writing systems that are considered to be highly phonetic. iconic symbols — that is. As previously observed. Given the limited and predictable domains in which early writing was applied. As is the case with the Semitic languages. signs that represent sound but not meaning. at least — if it assigned a different graph to each and every morpheme in a language. And all have phonograms. A phonological component is essential to a writing system for the simple reason that a system would have. Morphemes represent the smallest meaningful units in language. On the other hand. there is an intrinsic element of economy in all writing — no writing system notates all of the linguistic structure of speech. drink contains one morpheme. but requires a level of linguistic training. and distinguishing the individual readings with phonograms or semantic determinatives. or words. by pictures or pictographs — an option that naturally facilitates both the creation and learning of a script. Although writing is born of speech. while the rebus principle generates further phonetic values. all four have logograms. motivations that extend to the nature of writing itself. such as grammatical affixes. particularly with regard to grammatical markers. the earliest writing systems. or sounds. verbs. which are used to write nouns. quite literally. Furthermore. grammatical elements can often be recovered from context and so may be omitted. stress. can often be represented by motivated. there are no purely logographic writing systems.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
as a mode of communication quite distinct from speech — and. it comes as no surprise that none of the pristine writing systems is alphabetic. Further. People think in terms of morphemes and syllables. not to mention that without a phonological component the script would have no obvious bond to the language it was representing. there are also functional reasons for the divide between speech and writing in pristine systems. these very morphemes represent the grammar. although these are apparently rare in Maya writing. all the pristine writing systems have a class of semantic determinatives. Thus. as they were not spoken but rather were used in reading to classify nouns and disambiguate homonyms by semantic class. each system also exploited the existence of synonyms by assigning semantically related concepts or nouns to the same graph. as we have seen. in Egyptian semantic meaning is expressed primarily through consonant variations. could be omitted. Morphemes have a greater psychological salience for native speakers than the phonemes. In addition to the rebus strategy. In the name of economy writing omits those elements that can be recovered from context. Although not immediately apparent to those of us reared on the alphabet. which we acquire when we learn how to read and write. for instance. But there are also important differences between these writing systems. accounts for similarities shared by the four pristine writing systems. alien to our own perceptions of writing. as well as affixes that may be added to form larger words: for example. some of which correspond to different language structures. Consequently. and so it has a different basis from speech. Tone. At the root of pristine writing is the logogram — graphs representing individual words — although a more accurate description would be to say that early writing is ultimately based on the morpheme. p.and -able). *** That the logogram is at the root of pristine writing. and include lexemes. which relies on homonyms. that constitute morphemes (Sampson 1985. that are used to write bound morphemes. an impossibly large sign inventory — numbering into the tens of thousands. and they are immediately apparent to speakers without the linguistic awareness that allows for the dissection of language into units smaller than the syllable. it belongs to the realm of the visual rather than the oral and aural. while grammatical meaning — which as we have
21
. These are signs that belong to the realm of writing only. as we have seen. and adjectives. dividing words into individual sounds smaller than morphemes is not intuitive. First. Once again. morphemes. But in many cases.

structurally it is quite different. Issues of cultural identity and perpetuating long-established scribal traditions and the prestige attached to them are important contributing factors. while. could have simplified in the interests of efficiency. but this does not exclude structural motivations. The relationship between language structure and writing has been pursued by Peter Daniels (1992). 90–92). and Egyptian could have done the same with its small class of uni-consonantal graphs — certainly. but also their values in terms of phoneticism. abandoning its logographic and semantic origins and developing into a purely phonetic system. there are cultural factors involved in writing. becoming more closely linked to spoken language and thus better able to represent it. The degree to which iconicity is lost depends in part upon the medium of writing and the relationship between art and text. That this development did not take place. on the other hand. which was largely monosyllabic. on the other hand. it appears not to be applicable to all cases (Houston 2004a. that none of the pristine writing systems evolved into a purely phonographic one. that is. Here the logogram plays an even greater role. and they may play a more critical role. did not develop a script. And although Chinese writing is built on the same principles. and every homonym has its own graph. lacking this distinction between consonants and vowels. pp. graphs became less iconic and more symbolic once they were no longer drawn with curvilinear lines but rather pressed into the clay in wedge-like strokes. possess homonyms in large numbers and so more readily lend themselves. we can also speak of broad similarities. where writing was done on clay. As we have seen. 87–88). Certainly. biliteral. in cultures of highly restricted literacy. It comes as no surprise then that Egyptian writing is logo-consonantal with uni-consonantal. theoretically. In Mesopotamia. they become bleached of their iconicity and lose the visual similarity that they once shared with their referents. speaks to overriding social pressures and the role of ideology in writing (see Cooper 2004. again. to productive rebus formations. structurally. Trigger 2004. The transition to increased symbolism concerns not only the shape of the signs. phonograms were added into the individual graphs. and triliteral consonant graphs. 7. Chinese. Writing systems are inherently conservative and once they reach their stable. This suggests that monosyllabicity is just one among other possible motivations for writing — it likely did play a role in the commitment of Chinese and Sumerian to a visible form. and Maya could have conveyed language entirely with syllabic signs. Critics of this idea contend that the theory of monosyllabicity stands in opposition to cultural models for the origins of writing. They argue that it is more than simple coincidence that early writing tends to represent monosyllabic languages — that language structure affects writing. a requisite one. p. and recently by William Boltz (2000) in connection with Chinese. Both suggest that highly monosyllabic languages such as Sumerian and early Chinese. Sumerian and Maya. historically. in the course of the script’s development. each pristine writing system increased its phonetic representation. In terms of the formal development of individual graphs. However. Furthermore. although the semantic basis of the logograms remained robust. yet it was not the only force at work. p. in part owing to the use of the pen and the brush. but among them we see differences in detail. where graphs were also drawn and painted. for example. in all these cases there was the potential for this. pp. iconicity was retained to a much higher degree (Cooper 2004. creating compound signs that combined phonological and semantic information. mature phases they tend to persevere over long periods. Such a development would have greatly simplified the sign inventories of each: Sumerian. where the bond between art and writing was greater. resisting large-scale changes and maintaining their organizing principles. We must admit that there are correlations between the internal structure of spoken language and script type — we need only point to consonantal writing in Semitic languages to show this much. In China. in which syllables are equivalent to morphemes. as is the case with the
22
. Historically. Each system. thus enhancing the script’s bond with spoken language.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
seen is often retrievable from context by speakers — is expressed by vowels. while Inca. or. But in Egypt and Mesoamerica. are logo-syllabic with the phonograms consisting of syllables. Maya and Egyptian do not share the same structure and degree of monosyllabicity as Chinese and Sumerian. we must be careful not to take this as a universal development. 63). necessarily. the iconic value of the graphs was lost. we observe that pictographs — those signs that resemble their referents — may become in the course of time increasingly symbolic.

it is of tendencies that we must speak when we discuss the similarities in early writing (2004.
. but one invariant spelling: following d and t. nicked. kissed. Context. it is pronounced d. as described by Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle. And. while seeming to complicate a writing system. in the writing of the past-tense suffix -ed. In the end. or more accurately. booed. heavy doses of logography. or allomorphs. 65). The study of the points of agreement. Yet. as unsatisfying as it may be. 150–89. there were distinct benefits to logography beyond the distinguishing of homonyms.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. following all other voiceless consonants (those produced without vibration of the vocal cords). mobbed. it is argued. ≤ it is pronounced -i d. the written form is the most common allomorph or the one that is perceived by speakers to be. morphography. for example.
references
Bagley. pp. it is pronounced t. appears to be one of the most stable tendencies when comparing pristine writing systems. compelling linguistic reasons for maintaining logography. edited by Stephen D. for both linguistic and cultural reasons. p. In short. for example. But there are further advantages to this type of logography. the default form. and Purpose. It has been claimed. English orthography ignores allomorphic alternation with respect to the past-tense suffix.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE: ThE EArlIEsT wrITInG sysTEMs
four pristine systems. in early writing is in itself enlightening of the social and psycho-linguistic processes by which humans first made language visible. and the evolutionary processes themselves — no two are identical. particularly in the eyes of alphabet users. Native speakers intuitively apply the same phonological rules that they use when speaking. However. which has three different pronunciations. p.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. a morpheme has one fixed spelling even though it may have multiple pronunciations depending on the context. and subconsciously read written -ed as d following voiced consonants or vowels. In other words. Sampson 1985. although often misunderstood. 171. And as Japan bears witness. Logography tends to mask morphophonemic alternations — that is. Consequently. 190–249. Again. as a single written form can represent several allomorphic realizations. The independence that characterizes the invention of each of the four writing systems extends to their internal structures. are often remarkably stable and resistant to secondary sound changes. added. on some level. Houston. Writing systems of this type tend to represent morphemes in their most basic shapes — in other words. still there are similarities and tendencies. 2004 “Anyang Writing and the Origin of the Chinese Writing System. These basic allomorphs. 32–34. the various pronunciations that morphemes acquire in different phonological environments. for instance. that one of the advantages of morphographic systems is that they provide a common orthographic foundation for various dialects and historical stages of a language. compare DeFrancis 1984. visited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. in no way diminishes literacy rates (Trigger 2004. p. 49). where i ≤ is a neutral vowel labeled a “schwa. p. Houston. This is particularly true of Maya writing. 165). economy is the motivating factor. we must content ourselves with the likelihood that there will never be a set of universals for pristine writing. edited by Stephen D. for instance. we must not overlook other. 93–94). 23 Baines. naturally. while preserving access to older documents (Chomsky and Halle 1968. social contexts. and as t following voiceless consonants. p. Woods 2010). is that writing systems tend not to indicate phonetic variation “where it is predictable by general rule” (1968. mopped. pp. after all other voiced consonants (those produced with vibration of the vocal cords) and after vowels. 49. pp. The retention of logography. The basic principle at work here. English orthography observes this principle. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. of Sumerian writing as well (Robertson 2004.” for example. John 2004 “The Earliest Egyptian Writing: Development. and. as Jerrold Cooper has recently admonished us. p. 154). for the elites who control writing. Robert W. there are. and disagreement. advantages to keeping writing complex and arcane (Gelb 1963. logographic writing systems that exploit basic allomorphs can provide speakers of different dialects with a mutually intelligible written language. In this light.

1963 A Study of Writing.” Cuneiform Digital Library Journal 2006/1: 1–10. 2 volumes. DC: Government Printing Office. pp. Jerrold S. Daniels and William Bright. Stephen D. and Writing. Peter T. Houston. Houston.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. 2004 1994
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. Visible Speech: The Diverse Oneness of Writing Systems.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process.” In The World’s Writing Systems. Daniels and William Bright. Noam. Martha J. edited by Ann C. John 1984 1989
Michalowski. 53–69. pp. “The Syllabic Origin of Writing and the Segmental Origin of the Alphabet. pp. Piotr 1990
Englund. pp. Typological Studies in Language 21. “Babylonian Beginnings: The Origin of the Cuneiform Writing System in Comparative Perspective. Houston.” In Investigating Artistic Environments in the Ancient Near East. pp. and What?” In The Origins of Chinese Civilization. 2000 Monosyllabicity and the Origin of the Chinese Script. Washington. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. “The State of Decipherment of Proto-Elamite. 523–64. “The Origins of Writing as a Problem of Historical Epistemology.
Cooper. Berlin: Max-Planck-Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte. 49–70. pp. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Keightley. pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Smithsonian Institution. 83– 110. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins. “The Study of Writing Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.” In Literacy: Interdisciplinary Conversations. edited by Stephen D. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Interface Between the Written and the Oral. “Writing and Literacy in Early States: A Mesopotamianist Perspective. 1992
Macri. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1st edition 1952. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 100–49. James Henry 1926
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Daniels. pp. The Conquest of Civilization. Peter T. Jack 1987
Chomsky. “The Late Shang State: When. Picture Writing of the American Indians. 2004a “Overture to The First Writing. Sackler Gallery. edited by Pamela Downing. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. editors 1996
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Breasted.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. Revised 2nd edition. Peter 2006
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Boltz. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 3–15. Houston. pp.. Ignace J. DC. edited by Peter T.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. Robert K. 2004
Damerow. edited by David N. edited by Peter T. Berkeley: University of California Press. and Michael Noonan.” In The World ’s Writing Systems. pp. David N. “Early Mesopotamian Communicative Systems: Art. The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. edited by Deborah Keller-Cohen. The Sound Pattern of English. edited by Stephen D. Where.
Gelb. Reprint edition. The World ’s Writing Systems. Literature. edited by Stephen D. editor 2004 The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. and William Bright. 1972. 1996
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Daniels. and Madison: Arthur M. Cambridge and London: MIT Press.” In The Linguistics of Literacy. Houston. Lima. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. 2004b “Writing in Early Mesoamerica. Preprint 143. 274–309. 3–17. 71–99. New York: Dover Publications. Washington. Cresskill: Hampton. 172–82. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. “Maya and Other Mesoamerican Scripts.

The Origins of Writing. edited by Stephen D. 39–68. 172–82. Mattos and Jerry Norman. “The Morphographic Basis of Sumerian Writing. John S.” In The World’s Writing Systems.
Sampson.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. edited by Andréas Stauder and Christopher Woods. Early China Special Monograph Series 4. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. “The Evidence for Early Writing: Utilitarian or Ceremonial?” Antiquity 69: 459–80. “The Possibility and Actuality of Writing. pp. 2004
Woods. edited by Stephen D.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. 1989
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Postgate. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Berkeley: The Society for the Study of Early China/The Institute of East Asian Studies. Houston. Chinese Writing. University of California. Stanford: Stanford University Press. and Toby Wilkinson 1995
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“Mesopotamian Cuneiform: Origin. Daniels and William Bright. “Writing Systems: A Case Study in Cultural Evolution. Bruce G. pp. 2004
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. Tao Wang. Nicholas. Houston. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chicago: University of Chicago Press (forthcoming).” In Linguistic Method and Theory and the Languages of the Ancient Near East. Christopher 2010
Robertson. edited by Peter T. Berkeley. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Wayne M. 16– 38.

p. economy. to secure the contents from unauthorized access. 15). iCONOgrAphy OF prOTOLiTErATE SEALS
˘ oya topÇuoGlu
eginning in the late seventh millennium bc. and Iran. which differed for each seal. In addition. limestone. stamp and cylinder seals tell us about the intricate practices of record keeping. as well as individual or institutional responsibility for goods. Finally. and beliefs of ancient Mesopotamians. an inscription often accompanied the design. Seals functioned as markers of ownership through their designs. authorization. With the development of urban economies in the fourth millennium bc . they provided an unbroken frieze that covered and sealed the juncture between a vessel and its cover. or obligation. acknowledgment. bone. seals provide important insights into the society. seals carved with sometimes elaborate designs were used to mark ownership of goods in the ancient Middle East. Crouching rams and the heads of lions and rams were the most popular seal shapes (Catalog No. 2–3). remain speculative in the absence of contemporary textual evidence. After the invention of writing. the craftsmen who were able to use this tool skillfully may have developed the cylinder seal using the cylindrical stone cores of the vessels (Porada 1977. votive objects. Anatolia. ICOnOGrAPhy Of PrOTOlITErATE sEAls
1. The earliest use of cylinder seals is attested on hollow clay envelopes that contained tokens of various shapes and sizes (see 2. It is still uncertain why
29
B
cylinder seals were developed. As the most important tools of the complex administrative system developed prior to the invention of writing. and theories about this change in form are varied. 7). which in turn provided increasingly differentiated seals for a larger number of people (Nissen 1977. In addition to their undeniable value as works of art. Early in the fourth millennium. Stamp seals first appeared in the seventh millennium bc in northern Iraq and quickly spread into the neighboring regions of Syria. animal-shaped stamp seals with crude animal figures carved on their bases were introduced. cylindrical style of seal with images carved around its circumference. leading to the abandonment of stamp seals and the emergence of cylinders. Inscriptions on seals that identified seal owners by name and profession appeared in the first half of the third millennium bc.1. seals were impressed on tablets by administrative officials and witnesses to legal transactions. p. After the advent of writing. 1). a tall.
. administrative hierarchy. this volume). and semiprecious stones. After a short period of co-existence. Early stamp seals have geometric designs carved on their flat surfaces (Catalog Nos. The seals were impressed on wet clay that sealed containers and storerooms. elaborately sculpted. Henri Frankfort suggested that since cylinders could be rolled on wet clay in one continuous motion. were a by-product of the stone-carving process. Cut from a variety of materials such as shell. The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing. seals also functioned as amulets. Most identifications of figures and events depicted on protoliterate seals. since with a cylinder the entire surface of an object could be sealed and protected from tampering while the small impressions of stamp seals provided only partial protection. She claimed that because both vessel carving and seal engraving were done with the drill. Although the imagery of protoliterate seals remains difficult for us to “read. origin. and symbolic systems of the ancient Middle East. which remained in use for two thousand years (Frankfort 1939. cylinder seals replaced stamp seals. Hans Nissen has suggested that cylinder seals emerged as a result of the need for a more effective administrative control in the complex social system of fourth-millennium Mesopotamia. The fourth millennium also gave rise to cylinder seals. Edith Porada suggested that cylinder seals. and jewelry. which appeared at a time when fine stone vessels were being produced. however. pp.” it is clear that it was used in conjunction with writing in a complex administrative system where the visual expression complemented the textual one. On the other hand. 2–3). seals were used to mark ownership. the wider surface of the cylinder allowed increased variability in design.

Finally. 13–15). The close association
figure 1. The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing. One recurrent figure on the protoliterate seals is a bearded man wearing his hair gathered in a bun. Berlin. 1. 4–5). 1.1. battles. technology.5 cm. 1. representations on Uruk-period seals provide important insights into various aspects of Mesopotamian society such as social organization. animals in front of architectural facades (Catalog Nos. he is likely to be connected with the royal figure known from later historical sources as en (Sumerian for “lord” or “ruler”). 4–6). vA 10537
. ca. usually referred to as the “temple and herd” motif. Inv. military. seal: marble and copper. The most common subjects were cultic scenes.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
The largest and best-known group of cylinder seals and seal impressions for the protoliterate period comes from the sacred Eana precinct in the ancient city of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. whose office combined cultic. The importance attributed to this figure and his central role in a variety of activities help us to identify
30
him as a royal figure. also belong to the group of scenes related to the functioning of the state (Catalog Nos. a thick. and animals attacking other animals (Catalog No. Textual evidence indicates that Mesopotamian temples controlled a large workforce that took care of the temple fields and herds and manufactured products in associated workshops.1). from uruk. architecture. processions toward a monumental structure. which indicates their sacred character. 11).2). 3000 bc. Toward the end of the Uruk period (ca. 12). The scene represents the ruler’s central role in preserving the fertility of the land. 5. Cultic scenes depict humans approaching a building identified as a temple. Cylinder seal with handle in the form of a sheep. carrying objects interpreted as offerings on their shoulders and in their hands (fig. mostly caprids in front of elaborate architectural facades. These scenes with their lively figurative imagery constitute the beginning of narrative in Mesopotamian art. have also been tied to the functioning of the temple institution through their identification as temple herds (Catalog Nos. and warfare. and political powers. Designs on protoliterate seals depict mostly rituals or ceremonies central to the functioning of the state. Comparisons between Mesopotamia and Iran allow us to see the extent of shared ideology. rituals. 6–10).3) accompanied by a reed bundle (Catalog No. Another common design shows animals emerging from reed huts (fig. scenes involving manufacturing activities. Major themes were expressed on seals through various combinations of basic design elements to create a large variety of seal designs and to allow both individual people and institutions to have their own specific seals. He is the central figure in a variety of scenes ranging from rituals. Seals and related materials were also found at the contemporary neighboring sites of Susa and Chogha Mish in southwestern Iran.4 x 4. and a long diaphanous skirt covered with crosshatching. economy. and administrative practices between the two regions. Scenes depicting animals. scenes depicting the priest-king. feeding plants to animals representing his active role in preserving the fertility of crops and herds (fig. imprint
of same seal showing the ruler feeding plants to animals. animal files with rows of identical or different animals (Catalog Nos. Initially this central figure appears as a man mastering the forces of nature (Catalog No. this volume). 3000 bc) abstract imagery with geometric motifs was also introduced into the cylinder seal repertoire of Mesopotamia. Despite difficulties of interpretation. 39) symbolizing the goddess Inana (see 2. vorderasiatisches Museum. and hunting and battlefield scenes. At the very end of the fourth millennium bc these sites were important centers for the development of a complex administrative system and provide a toolkit similar to that from Uruk itself. in particular weaving. who is also easily recognizable in protoliterate monuments. Such is the importance of this city that scholars have named the period of its dominance the Uruk period. Although the identity of this ruler is not known with certainty. The iconography of the figure signals the emergence of a powerful ruler at the top of the increasingly hierarchical society and complex administrative system of the Uruk period. rolled band around his head.

These cylinder seals are normally made
31
of a dark stone called steatite or chlorite that was baked at a temperature high enough to cause the material to turn white and to take on a glazed appearance. Based on this knowledge. w2303a
. crosses. The lack of written documents accompanying protoliterate seals and seal impressions that explain the meaning of their designs has given rise to a very puzzling question that scholars have been trying to answer for a long time. Ancient impression of a cylinder seal. Modern impression of a cylinder seal depicting two human
figures approaching a building facade. and carrying goods (Catalog No. scenes depicting men and women involved in activities such as weaving. 37). prove the importance of the temple institution in the economy. working the fields. threshing and storing grain. 1. lozenges. 17). 16) have been interpreted as showing the personnel in the service of temple institutions. Is there any correlation between seal imagery and administration in protoliterate Mesopotamia? Several scholars have suggested
figure 1. Symbolic scenes depicting vessels. The rest of the scene is populated by two groups of people. What makes them different is the distinctive imagery with which they are carved. both of which were fundamental parts of religious and economic life in ancient Mesopotamia. triangles. Behind them barley and sheep are visible
figure 1. or products of manufacturing arranged in rows were also popular design elements on protoliterate seals and they could also be combined with the above-mentioned scenes of manufacturing activities involving humans (Catalog Nos. rosettes. ICOnOGrAPhy Of PrOTOlITErATE sEAls
figure 1. hourglass. It is clear that the scene in question is one of conquest over the fallen enemy where the priest-king and his troops are celebrating their victory. the other a string of beads. and chevrons.4. The main geometric motifs used on piedmont seals are hatched meander. Some examples are also cut in bone.4). In the battlefield scenes. One holds a feline whose paws are cut off. Such battlefield scenes suggest the existence of armed conflict and coercion in the protoliterate period (Catalog No. He stands on the right side of the composition looking over his troops and is larger in comparison to the rest of the figures. from uruk. The spear and the figure’s large size are indications of his power and importance. bound and naked prisoners at the center.1. tools. Geometric seals most commonly found in Iran and referred to as “piedmont style” seals constitute a slightly later but quite different group (Catalog Nos. herding animals. 18–19). one victorious group standing up and holding weapons and another group on the ground with their legs bent up and hands tied behind their backs. depicting either fully abstract elements or abstract elements combined with representations of trees and animals. 15. Modern impression of a cylinder seal carved with a scene
of cattle emerging from and standing around a reed hut with emblems of Inana
between rituals and activities of production. Battlefield scene
showing part of the ruler standing on the right-hand side.3.2. and victorious troops looking over them. the central male figure of the ruler holding a long spear dominates the scene (fig.

suggests that the imagery of piedmont seals is “a complex visual system made up of a large number of individual elements combined according to discernible rules” (Pittman 1994. In other words. xv). As described by Christopher Woods (2. Nevertheless. the geometric designs on the piedmont style seals. and pottery making (Catalog No. but it was meaningful within the administrative system. the complex images on seals were literal depictions of activities concerning different sectors of the economy.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
that there may be a link between the different categories of subjects illustrated on seals and the administrative system of the period. On the other hand. were thus more expensive. and those depicting prisoners may have sealed war booty. the unquestionable value of seals as astonishing works of art shows the remarkable dexterity of the seal carver to narrate elaborate and detailed events and situations on such a small surface. the link between the seal and its owner may have been made through the seal imagery. this seal employs symbols that bridge the boundary between art and writing. Another theory claims that seal imagery referred to distinct offices within the administration and each design category represented and was used by a different branch of the administration. more complex seals with elaborate figurative imagery took a long time to make. Most important of all. Seals with schematic designs that were hastily made with mechanical tools probably belonged to institutions in which a large number of people were authorized to use the same seal and only a low level of differentiation in design was necessary. which are most
32
common in western Iran and appear also in central Mesopotamia. and economic aspects of ancient Mesopotamian culture. Holly Pittman. seals depicting the priest-king in rituals. variation in the imagery of piedmont style seals was not introduced for decorative purposes. 13). In other words. A similar association between writing and seal imagery has also been made for a cylinder seal formerly belonging to the Erlenmeyer collection (fig. who has studied the iconography of piedmont seals and its association with writing. and battles may have been used to seal central storerooms located in temples in the city of Uruk. p. profession. On the other hand. A separate category of seals and seal impressions depicting pigtailed ladies involved in industrial activities may have been used by temple institutions involved in production activities such as spinning.20). 2. hunting. political. Their complex patterns made up of unique design features differentiated and identified their owners. So far there is no scholarly agreement on the specific cultural value of seal imagery and a literal reading of protoliterate seal images will remain unattainable for us in the absence of contemporary written documents accompanying them. this volume). For instance. The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing. have been related to the Proto-Elamite script developed in Iran around the same time as the proto-cuneiform system in Mesopotamia.
. while seals with animal file designs may have been used by a section of the administration dealing with animal husbandry. Simple patterns such as rows of animals could not be distinguished from one another and were thus used by anonymous individuals representing an institution. a number of the graphs of the cuneiform writing system having their origins in the protoliterate visual arts. In addition. One suggestion is that the quality of craftsmanship of seals and the complexity of their designs may be related to the status of the seal owner and his standing within the administrative hierarchy. weaving. protoliterate seals and their designs continue to play an invaluable role in our understanding of the social. It is clear that both seal imagery and writing were used to communicate information and as devices of social control by a newly emerging state structure in fourth-millennium Mesopotamia and its neighboring regions. some design elements used in the piedmont style have formal similarities to the appearance of some signs in the undeciphered Proto-Elamite writing system and thus carried meaning somehow comparable to that of signs. while in the historical periods the owner of a seal was identified primarily through an inscription on the seal that mentioned the name. protoliterate seals begin for the first time to narrate events and social relations accompanying the emergence of the state. and belonged to high-ranking individuals within the administrative hierarchy. in the absence of inscriptions in the protoliterate period. and/ or political or religious affiliation of the individual. According to Pittman. In addition.

Eblaite. the native Sumerian designations. which were fashioned with a reed stylus. Cuneiform texts were written as late as the first century ad . 2. gu-šum2. this volume). this volume). The invention of writing was tightly intertwined with the rapid development of Mesopotamian civilization. located in southern Babylonia in present-day Iraq (figs. Hurrian. but was subsequently adapted to write a wide variety of unrelated languages throughout the ancient Middle East. as evidenced
figure 2. Elamite. Hittite (see 4. The cuneiform script was likely invented to express the Sumerian language. Evening at the uruk excavation house. rather than perishable material such as papyrus. A consequence of using durable clay as the principal medium of writing. These include Akkadian (see 3. Indeed. The script is known as cuneiform (from Latin cuneus “wedge”) — a descriptive designation that refers to the distinctive wedge-like appearance of the signs. which include the words gag. and sangtak. more than three thousand years after the script’s invention. is that Mesopotamia is one of the best-documented civilizations prior to the Industrial Revolution.
uruk and the archaic text corpus
The earliest-known cuneiform documents were found at the sacred temple precinct Eana in the city-state of Uruk.1.1–2) — and there is good reason to believe that this was the birthplace of writing in Mesopotamia. ThE EArLiEST MESOpOTAMiAN wriTiNg
chriStopher wooDS
t some point during the second half of the fourth millennium bc Mesopotamians began to inscribe signs on wet clay in what may very well represent the world’s first writing system. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
2.” also reflect this visual quality.2. or graphs. The Rise and Fall of Cuneiform Script in Hittite Anatolia. all similarly meaning “wedge” or “nail. Adaptation of Cuneiform to Write Akkadian. 1986
33
. and
A
Urartian.

vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE

by extraordinary changes that took place there toward the end of the fourth millennium. During the Late Uruk period (ca. 3350–3100 bc), which takes its name from the city, Uruk was characterized by rapid urbanization and population growth, swelling to a population of 20,000 to 50,000 individuals and a size of 2.5 sq. km — nearly twice the size of the next largest settlement — to become, arguably, the world’s first true city. Coupled with this, Uruk experienced a dramatic increase in social, political, and economic complexity. The results were a need to maintain records of production, goods, and labor and the corresponding rise of a complex administration. Writing was invented in this context. Indeed, that the vast majority of the earliest texts are administrative in nature suggests that the invention of writing was a response to practical social pressures — simply put, writing facilitated complex bureaucracy (Michalowski 1994, p. 56). It is important to stress in this connection that literature plays no role in the origins of writing in Mesopotamia. Religious texts, historical documents, and letters are not included among the archaic text corpus either. Rather, these text genres arise relatively late, beginning in the middle of the third millennium, some seven hundred or more years after the first written evidence.

The date traditionally given for the invention of writing in Mesopotamia is 3200 bc , but this is more or less conventional. A precise date for the earliest cuneiform texts has proved elusive, as virtually all the tablets were discovered in secondary archaeological contexts, specifically, in rubbish heaps that defy accurate stratigraphic analysis. The sun-hardened clay tablets, having obviously outlived their usefulness, were used along with other waste, such as potsherds, clay sealings, and broken mudbricks, as fill in leveling the foundations of new construction — consequently, it is impossible to establish when the tablets were written and used. The charcoal remains of pine beams found in the context of some of the Uruk texts suggest a date of around 3500–3390 bc. However, this date must be used with caution given that it represents a lone sample and various problems are known to complicate radiocarbon dates acquired from the latter half of fourth millennium (Margarete van Ess, personal communication). Currently, the German Archaeological Institute is attempting to acquire new radiocarbon dates of this material, which will hopefully clarify the situation. Despite the difficulties surrounding the dating, we can identity two distinct phases in the evolution of the archaic script — frequently referred to as proto-cuneiform — based primarily on

mesopotamian accounts of the invention of writing
“(Enmerkar’s) speech was very grand; its meaning very profound. But the messenger’s mouth was too heavy, and he could not repeat the message. Because the messenger’s mouth was too heavy, and he could not repeat it, the lord of Kulab (that is, Enmerkar) patted some clay and put the words on it as on a tablet. Before that day, words put on clay had never existed. But now, when the sun rose on that very day — so it was! The lord of Kulab had put words as on a tablet — so it was!” Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, lines 500–06 (after vanstiphout 2003, p. 85)

The oldest and most explicit Mesopotamian account of the origins of writing comes from the sumerian story Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, one of a cycle of narrative poems that involve the rivalry between the southern Mesopotamian city-state of uruk and the faraway, fabled city of Aratta, considered to lie across seven mountain ranges on the Iranian plateau. The story is known primarily from early Old Babylonian sources (ca. 2000–1750 bc), but it was likely first compiled in the preceding Third Dynasty of ur (conventionally referred to as the ur III period, ca. 2100–2000 bc), based on older oral traditions.

34

2. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG

Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, like the other poems of the cycle, takes place at a time that is nearly contemporaneous with our earliest historical sources, during the semi-mythological first Dynasty of uruk (ca. 2800–2700 bc), which included, in addition to Enmerkar, such legendary rulers as Gilgamesh and lugalbanda. The story involves several challenges and counter challenges of ingenuity to determine which ruler — and city — has superiority over the other. This contest required an envoy to travel back and forth between the two cities in order to relate the long and cryptic messages, which, naturally, had to be memorized. As the excerpt given above describes, Enmerkar invented writing so that his message to the lord of Aratta could be conveyed accurately, and would not be subject to the errors of memory. The messenger’s mouth is described, literally, as “heavy” (the sumerian word is dugud), which may refer to his inability to memorize the lengthy message, but may also — or additionally — speak to his failure to convey the eloquence of Enmerkar’s words. upon inspecting the inscrutable marks by the light of a fire, the lord of Aratta furrowed his brow, for “the spoken words were mere wedges!.” remarkably — and in contrast to many other indigenous accounts, for instance, the Egyptian one (“The Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System”) — the invention of writing is here portrayed as a human invention, occurring without the intervention of the gods. This account, mythological though it is, also shares the notion, which we believe to be historical fact, that writing was invented in the city-state of uruk, and invented as a response to a practical, utilitarian need — though, that need, in reality, was to facilitate bureaucracy, and letters do not appear until nearly a millennium after the first texts. In another sumerian story, Inana and Enki, which also dates to the Old Babylonian period, writing is considered to be one of the hundred or so basic elements, or “essences” — the sumerian term is me — of civilization. These me’s reside with Enki, the god of wisdom and intelligence and Inana’s father, in the ancient cult center of Eridug. Inana, coveting them, endeavors to acquire the me’s for her city, uruk, by getting her father intoxicated — a common ploy in sumerian literature — and duping him into giving them to her. succeeding in her plot, Inana loads the me’s, including that of the scribe’s craft (sumerian nam-dub-sar), into the Boat of heaven bound for uruk. The story may be interpreted as an etiology, though one necessarily based on a much older oral tradition, for uruk’s ascendancy. In the second, and particularly in the first, millennium, the scribal arts were attributed to the god nabû, divine scribe and patron of writing, whose symbol was a single wedge likely representing a writing stylus. finally, we note the late account of Berossus, an early third-century bc priest of the god Marduk. The story of the creation of the world encountered in the first book of his Babyloniaca (Burstein 1978) includes the myth of Oannes. This part-fish, part-human creature emerged from the Erythrean sea (likely here referring to the Persian Gulf), in the “first year,” and revealed to humanity all that was necessary for civilization, including the knowledge of writing, the sciences, and the arts. Giving his revelation during the day, Oannes would return once again to the sea at night. his teachings were comprehensive and perfect, for from that time “nothing further has been discovered.” cw

graphic styles, technique of execution, and complexity of the documents, all of which are suggestive of a chronological development. These two script stages correspond, but only indirectly, to the stratigraphy of the findspots. Consequently, the script and tablets of the earlier phase are labeled Uruk IV (ca. 3200 bc), while the script and tablets from roughly one hundred years later are labeled Uruk III (also known as the Jemdet Nasr period, ca. 3100 bc ) (fig. 2.3). Approximately five
35

thousand proto-cuneiform tablets were unearthed at Uruk by the German Archaeological Institute between 1928 and 1976 (Englund 1998, pp. 18–41). But these are not the only witnesses to the archaic script. Proto-cuneiform texts corresponding to the Uruk III tablets have been found at the northern Babylonian sites of Jemdet Nasr, Khafajah, and Tell Uqair, testifying to the fact that the new technology spread quickly throughout Babylonia soon after its invention (in ancient Iran proto-cuneiform possibly

vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE

figure 2.2. Plan of the German excavations of the sacred precinct Eana in uruk. The plan includes the numbers and findspots of the archaic texts

inspired the proto-Elamite script ca. 3100 bc .) Illicit excavations since the 1990s account for several hundred additional texts, which possibly originate from the ancient Babylonian cities of Umma, Adab, and Kish. These texts have the advantage of being generally in better condition than those from Uruk, which, as noted, represent discarded rubbish and thus are frequently fragmentary. To date, the proto-cuneiform corpus numbers approximately six thousand tablets and fragments. The Uruk IV tablets, representing the earliest phase of writing, typically bear only a few graphs and are simple in format. Further, many of the graphs represent naturalistic renderings of their referents, that is, they are pictographs. While this
36

earliest phase of cuneiform contains a few arbitrary symbols (see fig. 2.5 below; note that the graph for “sheep (and goats)” is symbolic and not pictographic), for those that do represent pictographs — the vast majority of the signs — the Uruk IV phase of writing exhibits a high degree of iconicity between graph and referent (e.g., Catalog No. 41). The curvilinear lines of these graphs were drawn — or, perhaps more accurately, approximated with multiple small strokes (Joachim Marzahn, personal communication) — with a pointed stylus. The Uruk III phase of the script, on the other hand, represents a significant development in the paleographic evolution of the script in several respects. The curved lines of the Uruk IV phase were straightened, while

the strokes that comprise the graphs were restricted to certain orientations and were created by a stylus with a triangular cross section (fig. 2.4). Additionally, the graphs were simplified and depicted more abstractly — for example, in the rendering of graphs consisting of animal heads, facial features, which were rendered naturalistically in the Uruk IV phase, were now omitted or depicted schematically (Green 1986, p. 465). These developments, which may have been made in the interests of efficiency as well as aesthetics, would continue well into the third millennium. As a consequence, those signs that shared a pictographic relationship with their referents gradually lost this iconic quality in the course of the evolution of the script, becoming conventionalized symbols — certainly contemporary users of the script would have regarded them as such, having no knowledge of the pictographic origins of certain graphs (fig. 2.5). With the loss of curvilinear lines, the script assumed its distinctive cuneiform appearance as graphs were pressed into clay in short wedge-like strokes. There are two further notable developments that distinguish proto-cuneiform from the mature phases of the script. The first concerns the number of graphs employed in the system. Whereas the archaic script contained roughly nine hundred graphs, about six hundred graphs sufficed for later cuneiform. The second concerns the direction of the script. At some point, likely in the third millennium, the graphs were rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise so that now they rested on their backs and the script was read from left to right rather , sag “head, perthan vertically (e.g., became son”). The reason for the change is obscure and much debated. However, it should be noted that developments of this kind are typologically quite common (Sampson 1985, p. 51). As noted above, the majority of the archaic text corpus — about 90 percent — is administrative in nature. That is, these are economic texts that figured into a complex bookkeeping system consisting primarily of receipts and expenditures of animals and a wide range of commodities and raw materials. The tablets identify the goods, their quantities, and the individuals and institutions involved in the transactions. These were the detailed records of the business activities involving the Eana, the sacred precinct and central economic unit of Uruk.
37

The archaic tablets displayed in the exhibit clearly demonstrate not only the types of administrative information contained in the archaic text corpus, but also the salient differences between Uruk IV (Catalog Nos. 41–46) and Uruk III (Catalog Nos. 47–55) phases of the script. The Uruk III tablets provide a glimpse into the economic life of Uruk at the close of the fourth millennium and include accounts involving livestock, slaves, grain, and other commodities (figs. 2.6–8; Catalog Nos. 53–55). Those graphs that were originally pictographs demonstrate a degree of abstraction, with straight lines, or wedges, having in many instances replaced the curvilinear lines of the Uruk IV script. Further, several of the longer texts represent the more complex accounts that distinguish this phase of the script from the proceeding one. Catalog No. 45 and particularly Catalog No. 44 typify the simple accounts that are diagnostic of the Uruk IV phase. But more revealing of the drawn, naturalistic quality of the Uruk IV graphs are the group of tags on display, particularly Catalog No. 41. These small pieces of clay were perforated to accommodate string so that they could be attached to baskets or vessels. The short inscriptions consist of the names of offices or officials; in some cases they possibly refer to beverages and dried fruits, commodities that would have been contained in the vessels to which the tags were attached (Englund 1998, p. 57).Interestingly, the earliest writing from Egypt consists of similar perforated tags (see 5. The

5. In the uruk III phase incising is replaced by impressing the triangular cross-sectioned stylus into the surface of the clay tablet
figure 2.4.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 2. The evolution of cuneiform signs
38
.

ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
figure 2. one for male ( ) and one for female ( ) slave.
Third column with general qualiﬁcation UB AB. ca.7. “(of the) UB household. 3100 bc) concerns the transfer of fourteen individuals. Englund)
Obverse
Two columns of “counted” personal names. This ambiguity is. Typical of proto-cuneiform texts. resolved by tablet format and the organization of information into cases
figure 2. This fact exemplifies some of the difficulties these texts pose. including ascertaining the language represented by the script. Although there appear to be many attestations of personal names in the archaic text corpus. the inscription does not include a preposition or verb.”
Reverse
1(x 10) + 4(x 1) UB AB BAR. possibly slaves.”
39
. they do not in general display obvious correspondences with the betterunderstood sumerian names of later periods.6. 3100 bc) appears to identify two named slaves in the possession of a third individual. cw (modified after original provided by robert K. This fragmentary text (OIM A2514. which would clarify the roles of the participants.2. “14 [slaves] (sent) out from UB household. This text (OIM A2513. associated with the uB household. The sign for “slaves” in fact derives from two distinct signs. in part. ca.

. cw (modified after original provided by robert K. dried fish.nam2 and e2 rad were part of the larger unit designated ab turgunû. with units 1.
=25 liters)
“temple. 10.
DUB
Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System. Englund)
Obverse
ŠE
“barley”
E2
1(x 6) + 1(x 1) = 7 (1 ŠE E2 LAL2≈NIM2. AB TURgunû SANGA. but were impressed with a round stylus held either perpendicular or at an oblique angle to the writing surface (Nissen et al.. (done by) the accountant of the “ditch-district fatteners”. The enclosure to the lower right would represent the box with “tokens” used in the calculations. At least five different counting systems are attested for the archaic texts. and pots were quantified using the sexagesimal system. while all grain products. the households associated with these scribes suggest that še.
ŠE DUB E2 LAL2≈NIM2. place names. consisting apparently of personal names. and the minute into 60 seconds goes back. seemingly. fruits. . this volume). These graphs were not incised with a pointed stylus. 1. all animals and humans.8. ultimately.200. The sexagesimal system survived the archaic period and the Sumerians and was used by the Babylonians down to the end of cuneiform civilization at the turn of the current era. 1993.
=6
(=150 liters)
“tablet”
E2 RAD SANGA. Like the Mesopotamian tags. further. 600.e. 175 liters of barley for the LALNIM temple. 25). tools. 3. This text (OIM A12259. Grain measures of about 150–75 liters on both obverse and reverse were recorded by persons qualified as sanga “accountant. 1998. the hour into 60 minutes. (under) the accountant of the “TURgunû household”. 7. stones. with units 1. 3100
bc). The numbers can be large and the numerical notation complex. For instance.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 2. though very difficult still contains interesting information. ca. excavated at Tell Asmar by Oriental Institute archaeologist henri frankfort in 1933–34. to the Sumerians and their sexagesimal numerical system.NAM2 RAD SANGA. 60. with a tallying box with compartments corresponding to bundling steps in the numerical system used by the scribes. Indeed. Numerical and metrological notations play a prominent role in the archaic text corpus. (done by) the accountant of the “ditch-district house”. animal products. 2. p.9). the numerical system used
40
depended on what was being counted. p. fresh fish. and the names of institutions. Roughly sixty graphs are devoted to expressing numerals. The roughly 10 percent of the archaic text corpus that is not concerned with administrative matters are critically important for understanding early Mesopotamian intellectual life and the means by which the new technology of writing
. and.600) and bisexagesimal (i. 60. as was the case with the word graphs. house”
ŠE . cheeses. our division of the circle into 360 degrees. having come to us through the Babylonians and the Greeks (fig. 120.200) systems.” specialists identify this sign. the two hundred small bone and ivory tags discovered at Abydos bear short inscriptions. were quantified using the bisexagesimal system (Englund. including the sexagesimal (i. 120).e.
RAD “irrigation ditch”
Reverse
1 150 liters of barley for the “tablet” of the LALNIM temple. 10. Remarkably.

2. referred to as lexical lists. numerical systems used in proto-cuneiform
was passed from one generation to the next. which were typically inscribed on round. These texts were the primary paradigm for the scholarly organization and presentation of information. in which a student has practiced inscribing various signs. 46 represents the oldest. most
. Catalog No. bun-shaped tablets (Catalog No. 47). These texts. Essentially long lists of thematically organized words — ancient dictionaries. 2. This crudely formed lump of clay anticipates the elementary school exercises known from later periods. moreover. as a means for teaching professional vocabulary and the intricacies of cuneiform writing. and served. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
figure 2. represent one of the most distinctive and prevailing signatures of Mesopotamian civilization. of a sort — lexical lists constituted the native lexicographical tradition.9. Lexical lists were copied and recopied by scribal students down to the end of cuneiform culture.10). A more elementary exercise is represented by VAT 16741 (fig. Copying a
41
complex text of this kind would certainly have been assigned to a more advanced scribal student.

second-millennium text equates with Akkadian šarru “king. namešda may have simply represented the highest-ranking official in the Uruk administration (Englund 1998. other lexical texts from the archaic period include lists of plants. animals.
important. From the succeeding Uruk III phase alone we have some 185 tablets and fragments (Englund 1998. and cities.11. p. see Catalog no. an Uruk III administrative text. 103).” In the archaic period. This suggests that the lexical lists had a value beyond their use as simply lexicographic and instructional tools (Civil 1969. 103). Naturally. Comparison of the first lines of the late uruk. wooden implements. line
drawing of vAT 16741. p. the tradition of their scrupulous transmission from one generation to the next being intimately bound up with scribal identity.10. It is important to point out that faithful adherence to tradition with regard to the repeated copying of what was already an ancient text by the third millennium meant that scribes were reproducing
42
figure 2. which a later. the existence of word-for. facilitates enormously the decipherment of the archaic script. 103–06). 52. The titles of several high officials included in the Standard Professions List also appear as recipients of disbursements in Catalog No. Conversely.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 2. an uruk III scribal exercise. in which the script and the language are more comprehensible. that had become obsolete long before. the titles of professions from the contemporaneous language necessarily could not be incorporated. a hierarchically organized inventory of Uruk officials and occupations (Englund 1998. their prestige stems in part from their cultural value as symbols of the scribal profession. demonstrating that titles included in the lexical list had a real-world basis. p. jars. while the first complete exemplars — the archaic lexical lists typically represent extracts of longer texts — stem from the mid-third millennium (ca. a span of nearly a thousand years — an astonishing fact indeed. 2. like the aforementioned namešda. 47
sign forms and vocabulary. and most copied lexical list known — the Standard Professions List. from the site of Fara (fig. The Standard Professions List is thus crucially important for reconstructing Uruk society at the end of the fourth millennium.11).word duplicates from later periods. for photograph. 2600 bc). pp. The Standard Professions List contains some 140 entries and begins with the title namešda. 4). Likely. Remarkably this list was copied with little change throughout the third millennium.and fara-period versions of the standard Professions list
.

expressing the syllabic pronunciations of those words. More certain examples of phonetic writings include: the writing of the name of the . and so functioned as logograms. that is phonetic. of the rebus principle. other examples include the picture of a reed. The scarcity of phonetic writings creates a number of problems connected with identifying the language of the script and determining whether proto-cuneiform can be defined as “true” writing. for instance. 43).” and de6 “to carry. was used for the syllable a. . pp. Assigning semantically related words to a common graph was done in the interest of economy. is used to express the homophonous verb gi “to return”. verbs gen “to go. prepositions. indicomplement nunuz. as representing words. similarly. for instance. for the or the graph for “mountain. and similar signs. such as the sign for “sheep and goats” which consisted of a cross inscribed within (e.g. smaller set of signs that are referred to as determinatives. which among other things was the phonetic shape of the locative case in Sumerian.” that is.” all of which share a transparent semantic relationship. Phonetic writings generated via the rebus principle played a remarkably minor role in protocuneiform. a second class of signs arose — phonograms — which possessed sound but not meaning. which is written uri 3+ na . p. Krebernik 2007. (gi4). gi. Nanna. ( kur ). These signs were not read. where the pronounced nanna. spellings of the city names Ša 3bu and Gir2-su (Englund 2009. 9–10. and the syllabic. the sign originally representing “water. which is the pronunciation of the word for “fish” in Sumerian. grammatical affixes. could be used to write another word that was identical or nearly so in pronunciation.” word for “mountain. the phonetic value associated with one word. Taken in isolation. many of these logograms had a clear pictographic relationship to their referents. As described above. as it allows for the representation of those elements of language that are not easily
43
represented graphically. there is a third. 2. logograms had both a semantic meaning. Only in the first quarter of the third millennium did phonograms.” gods by dingir “god. for “wood. Relatively rare attestations of this kind notwithstanding. mophonous but more abstract verb sar “to write”. or word sign. 28). generated via the rebus principle.
. one would be tempted to describe du. is phonetic complement with the where na . Finally. cating that the composite graph has the phonetic value az(a). For example..2. in later cuneiform the sign for sar “garden” (originally a pictograph of ) could be used to write the hoa garden bed. and — of considerable importance to the historical development of cuneiform — the phonetic rendering of personal names and foreign words. phonetic writings do not constitute an important organizing feature of the proto-cuneiform writing system. a in Sumerian. pronounced gi. however. For instance. For instance. which represents a single word or group of semantically related words (see fig. the sign du. has the meaning “fish” mophonous signs). A much smaller group of logograms. begin to play a significant and increasing role. the logogram represented by the graph ku6 (the subscripted number is a modern convention for distinguishing ho. however. as well as a phonetic value. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
the writing system and its relationship to speech
At the root of the cuneiform writing system.” . . That is.5). is the logogram. trees and wooden objects.” gub “to stand. . Through the use a circle.” and so on. expressed the originally a pictograph of a foot. for the Sumerian word for “reed. as originally conceived. most often something with a ready iconic representation. as ideograms — signs that represent ideas or concepts — but in actuality all cuneiform signs represented specific words in a given context. had an arbitrary relationship to their referents. as it limited the number of signs the writing system required and facilitated the learning of the script. giš.” kur. In its original conception. value na indicating that the graph uri3. as well as the syllabic value ku.” cities by uru “city. the aforementioned sign designating a reed. moon god. As Sumerian words tend to consist of (but are not exclusively) single syllables. has the value za. Sumerian writing relied almost exclusively on the logogram. Catalog No. (gi4 ). The high frequency of monosyllabic words and homonyms in Sumerian clearly facilitated this development. whereby a sign for one word could be used to express a homonym. The rebus principle is integral to writing. but merely served as aides in reading by indicating the semantic class to which certain words belonged. . is to be . pirig+nunuz. were often preceded by the logogram.

g. it would be theoretically impossible to determine the underlying language. as the organization of text into boxes. see figs.. Much of the omitted grammatical information was either unimportant to the purpose at hand or was predictable from context. This was a writing system that was modeled on speech but did not mimic speech. the evidence that the language represented by the proto-cuneiform script is. the breach between writing and speech extends to syntax. of varying degrees of certitude that have been discovered to date. The order of graphs is fluid in early texts and words were not written in the order in which they were spoken. rendering its inclusion redundant. was invented for a very restricted application. Most of the morphological information of speech.” but taken in isolation the graph gives us no indication of its pronunciation and hence what language it represents. transliteration. that is. this volume). namely. such as pronouns. being based on perhaps fifteen instances of phonetic writings. and other elements that convey grammatical meaning.6–8). A purely logographic system. Indeed. is handled to make this determination. or cases (e. We would have to consider how grammatical elements are rendered and how syntax. we may intuitively know that the pictograph means “head. played an important role in organizing information. line drawing. If this information is not indicated in the script. The proto-cuneiform texts were in a sense mnemonic devices — the decoder or reader of these texts had to rely heavily on the broader context in order to recover their full messages. illustrating the incomplete nature
of the script and resulting ambiguities
44
. There was a considerable gap between the natural. 2. and “translation” of an uruk III text. it is more appropriate to speak of “interpreting” texts rather than of “reading” them. This difficult situation is essentially what we face with the proto-cuneiform script. 2. adverbial markers. word order. Tablet format. Consequently. for bookkeeping purposes. In sum. Sumerian writing. spoken language and what is represented by the early Uruk script. to a limited degree. writing.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
As described in Visible Language: The Earliest Writing Systems (Introduction. in fact. in this sense. held economy as its topmost priority. in its original conception particularly. As this context is forever lost. compensated for this. without any phonetic signs (no such writing system actually exists) would pose certain problems in terms of determining the underlying language. these documents pose enormous problems of decipherment and interpretation for the modern scholar. However. Not until the second half of the third millennium did the sequence of graphs within individual cases reflect the sequential order of speech. for the division between writing and other forms of visual representation would be blurred in the absence of an explicit link between script and speech.12. For instance. the circumstantial evidence provided by the cultural continuity between the late fourth and the mid-third millennium. More than any other writing system known. The script. as we have seen. at which time there is no doubt the language represented
figure 2. Sumerian is quite slim.12). is quite incomplete (fig. writing is typically defined as the unambiguous visible representation of speech — forms of communication that convey ideas directly and are unhinged from spoken utterances do not qualify as writing according to this definition.
In Sumer. is simply not recorded.

Morphograms are signs that represent a conceptually basic or default form of a morpheme. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
is Sumerian. see Visible Language: The Earliest Writing Systems. this volume). idem 1996. so that messages could be written more succinctly. In other words. or so it appears. Introduction. who did so by relying on their native competence with the language. A scribe could exploit the logographic. p. Sumerian writing became more explicit in its expression of morphology. in terms of the development of a syllabary. 54. But the overriding interest appears to be in the continuity of tradition and the prestige associated with the old orthography. so that by the end of the third millennium the grammatical elements of speech were. As for proto-cuneiform script representing writing in the sense defined above. English orthography ignores the fact that the plural has the pronunciation z following a voiced consonant. in general. was not precipitated by a desire to better express Sumerian. borrowed symbols from pre-existing administrative devices and artistic traditions. The plural in both cases is written -s. phonetic variation could be omitted in the writing where it was predictable from the context. but they were of little importance to the organization and structure of the proto-cuneiform system. In the interests of economy. problems that were addressed individually. The first writing. it was always possible for a scribe to employ the morphograms that were the basic building blocks of the early script. While writings that more faithfully represent pronunciation increasingly dominate over time. Yet economy of expression always remained a basic feature of Sumerian writing and it was always possible to omit information that was deemed to be retrievable from the broader context.
precursors to writing
Mesopotamia boasts not only what may be the earliest writing system invented. bolsters this argument. In Sumerian writing this phenomenon is much more pervasive. One potential advantage in doing so was that fewer signs needed to be memorized and used.2. and codified and integrated the whole into a system that was fundamentally different from the communicative systems that preceded it (Michalowski 1994. added many new elements. A striking example of this is the existence of what may be referred to as “morphograms. but rather by the necessity to write foreign words and the adaptation of the script to write the Akkadian language. Most scholars today assume that Sumerian underlies the earliest texts from Mesopotamia. Indeed. even though in the case of dogs the plural is pronounced z. appear to occupy the ambiguous gray area between the two. That Sumerian writing became more closely bound to speech was a secondary consequence of these developments. The burden of supplying the appropriate “surface” or phonetic form of the morpheme was left to readers.
45
basis of Sumerian writing and write a basic or primary form of a morpheme regardless of the allomorphic shape — that is. the pronunciation — dictated by the context. One had to know the language in order to render what was written into intelligible speech. English speakers unconsciously apply the same rules they use in generating speech and “read” the -s in dogs as a z (for a discussion of this phenomenon more generally and the English past-tense suffix -ed. the proliferation of phonetic writings. but also some of the clearest evidence for the non-linguistic communicative systems that were precursors to writing. a writing that preserves the basic or underlying form of the individual morphemes contained in the verb but obscures the phonetic changes owing to the assimilations that take place in speech. reflected in writing.” an extension of the logography that was the basis of the writing system (Woods 2010). For example. which we may define as the unambiguous representation of speech. the smallest unit of meaning in a language. or more accurately morphographic. by
. An example of a morphogram in English would be the writing of the plural marker in the words cats and dogs. 35–36). for the most part. The invention of writing represented a more comprehensive solution to a number of administrative and bookkeeping problems posed by an increasingly complex bureaucracy. and only in part. pp. the verbal form pronounced hanašumu “he should give (it) to him” could be written he-na-šum2-e (in addition to the more phonetic ha-na-šum2-mu). Phonetic writings were present at the beginning. we must accept that there is no sharp division between what we know to be true phonological writing and more symbolic modes of communication — pristine writing systems.

The hollow. it was necessary to draft a second parallel receipt that would be comprehensible to him. by a sheep owner. was found together with the envelope. is that it bears an inscription written in Akkadian. this one consisting of the pebbles within the sealed envelope (Steinkeller 1984. pp. What is remarkable about this
46
figure 2. 6). and what distinguishes it from the archaic envelopes. and also makes mention of the forty-nine sheep. which clearly concerns the same transaction. having been made famous by Denise Schmandt-Besserat and her theory of the origins of writing (1992). The “egg-shaped tablet” from nuzi
(sMn 1854 = hss 16:499)
object. The idea that these envelopes represented precursors to writing was first suggested by the French archaeologist Pierre Amiet in the 1960s. pp. numerical tablets. This object. but. identifying the pebbles as “the stones of the sheep” (Abusch 1981. some envelopes. in fact. Puhišenni. The clay envelopes bear the impressions of one to three seals. where writing was well known. This is the
. again. compare Oppenheim 1959. and clay counters and their accompanying “envelopes” (see 1. 3. These earlier. and labor. although it postdates the protoliterate envelopes by some two thousand years. this volume). Syria. Amiet’s understanding of the function of the envelopes was seemingly corroborated by a much later. it contained forty-nine small pebbles. 352). p. and so matches the number of pebbles enclosed. the so-called egg-shaped tablet (fig. At the time of discovery. and Mesopotamia and make their first appearance in the archaeological record shortly before the Uruk IV tablets. and that each envelope was the record of a transaction — a type of primitive accounting system in which it was necessary to impress the tokens onto the outer surface of the envelope so that it would not have to be broken to inspect its contents. commodities. 32–33 and 35–36). Leo Oppenheim of the Oriental Institute. much later in date than those discussed by Amiet. This object is a type of envelope. but most importantly they contain clay tokens (Catalog Nos. A receipt tablet. it might be suggested that the exchange of sheep involved an illiterate shepherd (Abusch 1981. or “tokens” (Catalog Nos. pp. pp. 340. each served as a means to control and monitor the flow of materials. Amiet stopped short of equating specific tokenshapes with specific cuneiform signs. Iconography of Protoliterate Seals. 20–28 and 32–36). Amiet (1966) observed that in some cases — the emphasis being on some — the markings on the envelopes matched those on the enclosed tokens. So there can be no question that this particular envelope represents a simple accounting device for a specific transaction. Studying a group of envelopes found at Susa in southwest Iran. include cylinder seals.13. 2. And. Because the shepherd could not verify the accuracy of the written document. have received the most attention. Ziqarru. The tablet provides the additional information that the sheep in question were placed in the care of a shepherd. pp. second-millennium artifact found at Nuzi. The very act of impressing tokens onto envelopes to represent numbers could have led to the creation of writing. Returning to our fourth-millennium envelopes. and why this transaction would be recorded in two different media. which were likewise products of the Late Uruk period.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
earlier devices (Nissen 1986. These artifacts have been excavated in Iran. 123–24). 6). 323–26). As writing would more effectively do. baseball-sized clay balls referred to as envelopes and their associated counters.13). bear marks that indicate that the tokens were impressed upon their outer surface before being sealed within. 7–8. As to why such a primitive device would remain in use at Nuzi. It was Amiet’s idea that the tokens were numerical counters. The inscription on the envelope makes reference to forty-nine sheep. was first discussed in 1959 by A. it seems reasonable to suggest that those earlier artifacts served a similar function (Lieberman 1980. prehistoric administrative devices.

the simple. since their two-dimensional impressions on the surface conveyed the same information with far less effort.
. In Uruk and Susa. In Schmandt-Besserat’s view. both the numerical and logographic signs of cuneiform evolved directly out of the earlier token system. 22–28).2. became the logograms of cuneiform (Catalog Nos. The so-called complex tokens. The cones and spheres of the complex token system were now translated to two-dimensional pictographs and were drawn with a stylus on clay tablets. developed into the numerical graphs (Catalog Nos. From this point it is supposedly a simple and logical step to the development of writing. Early accountants soon realized that the process of enclosing tokens within envelopes was entirely unnecessary. of course. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
figure 2. she argues. They represented. the new commodities and bureaucratic needs of the complex societies that were emerging
47
at the end of the fourth millennium. So the envelopes were replaced by tablets. those that have various markings and incisions and are regarded as a hallmark of the burgeoning urban societies of the fourth millennium. which first make their appearance with the beginnings of agriculture in the ninth millennium. This theory is based on the visual similarities between the elements of the token and writing systems (fig. Schmandt-Besserat assigned meanings to fifty complex tokens. The development of cuneiform. By comparing the geometric shapes and designs of the tokens with those of the early cuneiform signs. early bureaucrats organized them by threading them on strings and. 2. undecorated tokens. According to Schmandt-Besserat. 20–21). after schmandt-Besserat (1992)
critical point at which Schmandt-Besserat’s theory of the origins of writing departs from that of Amiet.14. sealing them within clay envelopes after impressing them on the surface.15).

16). as doing so would necessarily destroy these artifacts. the theory is problematic. of course.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 2.15. and silver
understanding of the nature of the transactions or agreements represented by the tokens and clay envelopes (fig. Notably. Also damning in this regard is that the distribution of tokens. in the respective systems. 49. Currently. p. p. subjective. most of the tokens that are claimed to be the evolutionary precursors to cuneiform signs are not even found in connection with envelopes.
Comparison of complex tokens with the respective cuneiform graphs (from top to bottom) for sheep and goats. or meanings. for it is entirely possible that the shared symbol has different values. the archeological context is vague if not completely unknown. Moreover. and Schmandt-Besserat is certainly to be praised for reigniting the debate over the origins of writing. the Oriental Institute is working jointly with the University of Chicago Hospitals to scan the fifteen envelopes in the Oriental Institute’s collections that were excavated from Chogha Mish in southwest Iran. eighty of the some 130 excavated clay envelopes remain intact (Englund 1998. As the archaeologist Paul
Although there is an elegant simplicity to much of this argument. from the ninth to the end of the fourth millennium bc — comprised a uniform accounting system. The lynchpin of Schmandt-Besserat’s theory — that tokens look like cuneiform signs — is. for instance. 117). is at odds with our understanding of early Mesopotamian economy and society. as Schmandt-Besserat argues. It is difficult to accept. However. But recent technological advances in CT scanning and three-dimensional imaging now allow us to inspect the contents of sealed envelopes with a level of detail impossible just a few years ago. wool. The results promise to significantly enhance our
48
figure 2. 2. For many of the objects. Three-dimensional CT scan of the contents of a clay envelope from the site Chogha Mish in southwest Iran
. the assumption that a symbol present in two distinct systems — in this case the tokens of a prehistoric accounting system and proto-cuneiform — must necessarily have the same value is a well-known methodological pitfall in decipherment efforts. and many of her identifications linking complex tokens to cuneiform signs are simply not plausible.16. that tokens found over such a vast time period and over such a vast geographical range — from the Mediterranean to Iran. if we accept Schmandt-Besserat’s identifications. Schmandt-Besserat 1992. it should be pointed out that perhaps only five envelopes have been opened.

likely the depiction of a beveled-rim bowl of the uruk period
figure 2. the inventors of the script borrowed long-established pictographic and iconographic elements from the visual arts of the protoliterate period. 54. In a final development before the inception of proto-cuneiform proper. mold-made bowls were mass produced. when combined with the graph sag “head. 59. 516). Conversely. for become the graph for “sheep and goats. p. Beveled-rim bowl. of proto-cuneiform.” instance. based on its distribution in the token system. a number of standards and emblems connected with deities and their cult centers. a diagnostic feature of the Late Uruk period (fig. An example of this type of adoption from the material culture is the ubiquitous beveledrim bowl. This is indeed troubling. 52–56).17). p.2. or perhaps better. the meaning. 2. Others. given all we know about the importance of livestock in the ancient Middle East. “is it really credible that early villagers would leave more evidence of keeping accounts of nails than of livestock?” (Zimansky 1993.” prompting Zimansky to ask. occurs only fifteen times over seven thousand years (Zimansky 1993. Composite sign gu7 “disbursement”
. it had in that earlier system was not (Zimansky 1993. perhaps her most compelling piece of evidence on visual grounds. the most common tokens are those that supposedly signify “nails” and “work days. ThE EArlIEsT MEsOPOTAMIAn wrITInG
Zimansky has pointed out. The symbol that would . all we can say with any degree of certainty — as Amiet pointed out over forty years ago — is that there is a relationship between the impressions on the envelopes and the numerical graphs of the cuneiform system and that these two systems. 516). appear to be related. At this point. p. The distinctive shape of the bowl was incorporated into the writing system to represent “a ration of food”. by impressing the tokens into the wet clay. the existence of numerical tablets (see Catalog Nos. These crude. When the script was invented. the alleged sheep token. pp.” ninda. meanings. pp. 516–17). p. which possessed powerful symbolic value. As for the origins of the word signs. obviously belonged originally to the accounting system represented by the complex tokens.18. 35–36). these simple numerical accounts were supplemented with graphs (one or two at most) representing the commodities concerned (Englund 1998. Indeed.
49
figure 2. 7. 29–31) — stemming from the period immediately preceding the invention of writing with numerals but without graphs representing words — bridges the gap between the accounting systems represented by the tokens and the numeral graphs of proto-cuneiform. and were likely used to disperse standardized rations to workers.
consisting of the graph for “head.18) In other cases. this symbol was borrowed from the older accounting system and assigned the meaning “sheep (and goats). were borrowed from various preexisting communicative devices that were decidedly not writing (Michalowski 1990.” the composite graph gu7 denoted “disbursement” as well as the verb “to eat” (fig. in some instances.6 cm OIM A31656
pp.” sag. as numeral signs appear to have been made. idem 1994. nippur. 2.4 x 19.17. and the graph for “rationing vessel. most of these were no doubt invented with the writing system itself. idem 1996. In particular. or logograms. and only these two. however.” The graphic symbol was borrowed — people used and re-used the shapes known to them — but in all likelihood. were drafted into the script (Szarzyńska 1989.

the earliest writing from Mesopotamia had more in common with the administrative devices it replaced than with the flexible visual representation of speech that it would become. but as a cuneiform graph it persevered down to the end of cuneiform civilization (Steinkeller 1998. the vast majority of the pictographs likely came into being with writing itself. Berlin
. a star representing the divine determinative. is the sign ezen “festival” (the pictograph depicts a drum). designating the setting sun. 95). the patron goddess of Uruk (Catalog No. 175–76.20). to the right of the Inana symbol. writing.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 2. and the bond between the incipient script and the spoken word was tenuous. p. at least.” that is. the impressed circular designs on the staff mimic the clay-cone mosaics that decorated building facades.19). The group together can be “read” as “the
50
festival of the rising and setting star. p. As a cultic symbol it may not have survived the fourth millennium. a manifestation of the goddess Inana. Often described as a reed bundle. And here we must be careful to distinguish between the history of the individual graphs and the writing system as a whole (Michalowski 1994. A unique Uruk-period seal demonstrates the point (Glassner 2003. SIG. symbolic representations was quite porous. to the left. a characteristic feature of the architecture of the Eana precinct. Nissen. For the restricted applications for which it was invented. Impression of an uruk-period cylinder seal
from the former Erlenmeyer collection. 55). 2.19. and.20. accurately tracking speech was beyond this initial purpose. 2. as a system. 39). pp. Pictographic signs representing temple households
1996) (fig. Also included. it no doubt served its users well. the pictograph UD — the sun rising between two mountains — and the mirror image of the latter.
figure 2. quite different from anything that preceded it and quite different from any of the systems in which individual graphs may have originated. came into existence suddenly as an integrated whole (Michalowski 1996. When writing was invented it represented a completely new mode of communication. While the potential to do so was there from the outset. as a bookkeeping device. pp. 35–36). earlier symbolic systems. 17–18) (fig. Interestingly. and the two systems mixed more freely than they would in later periods. The present evidence leads us to believe that although it would evolve and undergo enormous changes in the course of its history. pp. the planet Venus. pp. The object was found at Uruk in 1929 by the German Archaeological Institute and served as part of a wall frieze in the Eana complex. In this sense. It should be emphasized that while some graphs can be demonstrated to have roots in other. This cultic symbol was borrowed and integrated into the writing system as the graph representing the name of the goddess. and Englund 1993. The image includes the symbol of the goddess Inana discussed above. this volute-like symbol may have represented a stylized scarf or headband (Steinkeller 1998. The exhibit includes an illustrative example in a fired clay symbol of Inana. 87–88). . In the protoliterate period the boundary that would later separate writing from artistic. Damerow.

bottom
1. ge
1. Gift to the Oriental Institute. 1–58
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. Stamp seals continued in use into the Late Uruk period
F
(3350–3100 bc ). perhaps because more varied and complex scenes could be carved into their surface. and perhaps because being rolled. ca.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. they could cover a larger area of sealing clay. when they were largely replaced by cylinder seals.4 x 2.8 x 3. jars. or other packages. modern impression
51
. 3700–3100 bc Iraq. acquired in Iran ca.
Stamp Seal in the abStract form of an animal with animalS inciSed on baSe
Indurated limestone uruk period. 1965. 1995 4.1 cm OIM A55048
1
1. stamp seals were used to mark property through their impressions into clay that sealed doors. 1–58
Stamp Seals
rom their earliest appearance in the late seventh millennium bc.

2 x 4.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. First introduced during the Uruk period. pl. 145:c. 1–58 12.1 cm OIM A32553
The “master of animals” depicts a human figure holding an animal on either side in a symmetrical scene that represents human mastery over the natural world. 3350–3100 bc Iran. ancient Seal impreSSion with a “maSter of animalS” or herding Scene
Clay late uruk period.
12
56
. p. this motif undoubtedly reflects increasing concern with managing the production of animals in the new urban economies. Chogha Mish 6.5 x 5. 141. ge
published
Delougaz and Kantor 1996.

The seals suggest the changes taking place in the
13. pl. with specialization of labor and a widening gap between the elite and a class of laborers. 57
.
14.7 x 4. 1–58
Craft Production
any cylinder seals and impressions of the Late Uruk period depict workers. 153:a. 438. depicts two squatting women spinning wool and churning milk. particularly seated women engaged in making textiles.6 x 2. ge
Clay late uruk period.
ancient Seal impreSSion Showing figureS carrying textileS that arc down from their headS
Clay late uruk period. 3350–3100 bc Iran.4 cm ChM III-804
published
14
Delougaz and Kantor 1996. p. 146:e.5 cm OIM A32441
The design on this sealing. Chogha Mish 7. pl. Chogha Mish 5. ge
13
published
Delougaz and Kantor 1996. 3350–3100 bc Iran. ancient Seal impreSSion with Seated textile workerS and animalS
M
new cities of the Uruk period. which probably sealed a bale of goods.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. some of whom would have been slaves.0 x 5.4 x 3.

ancient Seal impreSSion with workerS in front of a granary
Clay late uruk period. modern impression
This broken seal preserves elements of a scene involving early administration. To the right of these men is a second group. ge
58
. 3350–3100 bc Iraq. 401. Chogha Mish 3. The first. of which only a squatting figure and an arm holding a stick are preserved.4 x 5. The male figures are marked as being associated with the temple by their clean-shaven heads.4 cm ChM III-870
This is a small fragment of a conical sealing with the impressions from two seals. Below. 1–58 15.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.9 x 3. perhaps unloaded from the boat whose curving bow is preserved at right. depicts animals. 3350–3100 bc Iran. pls.8 cm OIM A3616
16
16. two) and that the flat objects are tablets. 1920 3. a pair of men bend over what might be a bag. Pittman (1994b) has argued that this scene represents a scribe holding a stylus (in this case. The figure at left holds small rods in each hand and kneels in front of a stack of three flat objects. ge
15
published
Delougaz and Kantor 1996. The second depicts a small upper register with several conical granaries or perhaps bags. and part of a boat
Indurated limestone late uruk period. which is badly preserved. p. 44:e. Purchased. 149:b. prieStS.
cylinder Seal with Scribe. The two standing figures are carrying jars.
16.0 x 1.

33:h. ge
published
Delougaz and Kantor 1996.8 x 3.1 x 2.7 cm OIM A64679
Clay late uruk period.1 cm ChM III-811
Ovoid clay objects like this one (called a bulla) were normally molded around a string that may have enclosed a container.
published
Delougaz and Kantor 1996.
bulla with Seal impreSSionS
38. Chogha Mish 3. pl.5 x 3. ge
This tablet-shaped sealing was impressed on three sides with a seal depicting objects shaped like bags. 1–58
38 37
37.
Sealing
Clay late uruk period. A seal showing a design of an archer was impressed on each of its five surfaces. 155:b. This bulla is unusual in not having a visible string impression.
69
. 150:a.7 x 3. 3350–3100 bc Iran. 3350–3100 bc Iran. Chogha Mish 6. pl. Its form is unusual and further illustrates the range of functions that sealed clay served in the administrative systems of the Late Uruk period.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.

translated by rw
39.
70
. 1:W4. It was found in 1929 along with four other fragments of clay inlays (similar pieces and a fragment of a bull figure) that served as parts of a wall frieze at a building in the southern part of Eana.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. fig. ca. Dolce 1978. It is a symbol of the goddess Inana and was also the basis for the cuneiform writing of her name. The drawing of the bundle
39.3 x 12.5 x 2. front
had been partly done with a simple writing stylus. pl. 34–49.7 cm vAT 14540
This object represents a stylized bundle of reeds that is rolled into a volute at the top. inana Symbol
Baked clay uruk Iv period. Eana District 19.b. 1–58 39. pp. The form of the Inana symbol is derived from bundles that originally served as entry posts to reed huts. a common type of dwelling in the marshlands of southern Iraq. The circular impressions represent contemporary mosaics of clay cones found at other buildings at the same site. uruk. W 4999. 24. 3200 bc Iraq. no. back
published
Jordan 1931. the temple complex of Inana. jm. pp. 33– 40.

figurine of bull or calf Baked clay late uruk period. graphs representing various bovids and equids were generally pictographs that only represented the head of the animal (cf. W 15658. outside the Eana precinct 2. 1–58 40. 55. the proto-literate visual arts. This phenomenon. Tags may have served to record deliveries. 60. most consisting of only a few signs.
he earliest Mesopotamian texts.9 x 3. text no. tags are inscribed on one side only. 3200 bc Iraq. rectangular tablets. 3350–3100 bc Iran. Catalog No.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.2 x 4. Chogha Mish 6.
Among the earliest written tablets were small. and horns. translated by rw
published
Englund and Nissen 2005.3 cm vAT 16749
This tag contains the name of an administrator. known as metonymy or pars pro toto — part for the whole — whereby an entity is represented or named by an easily
40
perceived or particularly salient part. p.
perforated tag
Baked clay uruk Iv period. mouth. In the proto-cuneiform system. ca. that could be attached to goods by means of a hole running lengthwise through the tag.1 cm OIM A32491
Many of the cuneiform graphs derive from. or where inspired by. than later signs. This typical Late Uruk figurine shows special attention to the head of the bovid.0 x 1. detailing the eyes. or representational. Unlike most tablets. played an important role in the graphic origins of the cuneiform writing system. or tags. obverse 41. cw
Uruk IV Texts
T
41. jm. belong to the Uruk IV phase. conventionally dated to about 3200 bc .5 x 2.
41. pl. and the signs are more pictographic. They are simple in format. 41). uruk. reverse
71
.

Although the signs appear to be drawn (also frequently connected with the term “pictogram”). archaic adminiStrative text Clay uruk Iv period. they are actually made by repeated impressions of a straight reed stylus. reverse
45. translated by rw
published
Englund and Nissen 1994. Eana District 5.c. 13. Englund 1998. uruk. 1–58 44. translated by rw
44. reverse
published
Englund and Nissen 1994. uruk. W 6710. jm. archaic tablet with numerical SignS and writing Clay uruk Iv period. jm.
45. Eana District 3. 3200 bc Iraq. 74.6 x 4.7 x 1. The reverse of the tablet contains a summary of the individual quantities enumerated on the obverse.7 x 2. 154–55. ca. W 9123. pp. pl. 35. It is inscribed on only one side with texts and numbers that refer to quantities of milk. obverse
44.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. obverse
45. pl. text no.3 x 2.a. text no. 3200 bc Iraq. ca. p. p. They are described with signs that were used only in the Uruk period. 66.4 cm vAT 14682
This tablet is typical of early short administrative accounts.1 cm vAT 14942
a reference to a storehouse.
The text on the obverse of this tablet is divided into several columns and lines that record various products (including possibly copper) and
73
.

3200 bc Iraq. This scribal exercise from the early Uruk IV writing stage represents what was apparently a favorite version of such compilations. archaic liSt of occupationS Clay uruk Iv period. known as “lexical lists. Composite drawing of the archaic lexical list lu2 A
.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 1–58
46. Such lists.7 x 6. Eana District 8. ca. obverse
46. uruk. Its content was copied many times in the subsequent Uruk III period (about 180 fragments of it are preserved). reverse
46.8 cm vAT 15003
This tablet is the oldest-known version of a list of titles and occupations. and it was the model for numerous modified and expanded forms of such lists.1 x 1. known as the Standard Professions List. The popularity of such standardized
74
Figure.” were used to train scribes and also served to organize knowledge.

Contents of the obverse are noted in sums on the reverse.3 x 5. ca. it may be considered a very brief lexical list. text no.
Uruk III Texts
he next stage of cuneiform writing is called Uruk III. pl. p. pp. 42. uruk 4.9 cm vAT 16741
this form in lists of metals). a process that would continue
T
through the third millennium. 153–57. The first column contains numbers. reverse
47.
47. 153.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. conventionally dated to about 3100 bc . Englund and Nissen 1993. Different numbering systems were used for different goods. p. Damerow. so the goods they are used to count can be identified even if the product itself is not explicitly named. translated by rw
published
Nissen. including a sign for “vessels” (also documented in
75
published
Nissen 1993. abstract shapes. Although the texts of this period are still considered archaic. this account can be identified as a brief exercise from a scribal school. representing more elaborate transactions. 82.” Because no numbers are included. translated by rw
The small tablet. p. As such. has two short lines of repeated signs in a loose sequence on one side. 23. W 13982.h. hastily shaped by hand (perhaps in fact a lump of clay). Texts from this stage are more complex in format. and Englund 1990. obverse
47. 3100 bc Iraq. Englund 1998. 104. W 9656. fig. 32 (composite lexical list).1 x 1. the signs have begun to lose their pictographic quality and assume more symbolic. 1–58
lists is indicated by the fact that they were repeatedly copied and recopied down through the Akkadian dynasty (twenty-third century bc). pl. jm. nearly a millennium after their creation. Features of tablets incised with Uruk III texts already exhibit the characteristics of later cuneiform. text no. jm.
. as well as the signs for “head” and “house.
archaic writing exerciSe
Clay uruk III period.

This text deals with transactions regarding sheep and is an example of the more complex documents from the later Uruk III writing stage. archaic adminiStrative text (liSt of liveStock) Clay uruk III period.7 x 1. these tablets can now be assigned with some degree of certainty to Uqair (in northern Sumer. not far from Jemdet Nasr) owing to similarities of certain sign combinations. when Adam Falkenstein published the first volume of Archaische Texte aus Uruk (Archaic Texts from Uruk). ca.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. obverse
48. reverse
published
Englund 1996. pl.9 x 4. 1–58 48.
76
. Although initially assigned a provenance of Jemdet Nasr. translated by rw
48. Texts like these attracted attention only after 1936. 34.4 cm vAT 5294
This tablet was acquired on the Baghdad art market twenty-five years before the excavations in Uruk began in 1928. and so its origin cannot be determined with certainty. p. jm. 4:8. Originally from uqair? 7. 3100 bc Purchased in Baghdad.

This text illustrates the physical characteristics the script had assumed by the middle of the third millennium. 2500 bc Iraq. Tello? 9.3 x 10. were the primary scholarly means of organizing and presenting information.2 cm OIM A3670
This lexical list includes the names of various gods. Organized by sign form and theme. cw
56
82
. essentially ancient dictionaries. 2600 bc).0 x 3. 1–58 56. Lexical lists. this list has parallels in somewhat earlier lists from the site of Fara (ca. ca. early dynaStic iii lexical liSt
Clay Early Dynastic IIIb period.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.

the founder of the Ur III state (see Catalog No. ca. 37. 58). who was likely a contemporary of Ur-Namma. by Gudea.3 x (diameter at head) 4. This Sumerian text illustrates the types of objects that bore inscriptions as well as the physical characteristics of the script at the end of the third millennium.5 cm OIM A1447
This inscribed cone written in Sumerian commemorates the restoration of the god Ningirsu’s temple. 135–36. of the elements of the spoken language. no. the independent ruler of the city-state of Lagash. cw
published
Edzard 1997. pp.
83
. 2100 bc unknown provenance 10. By this time the script recorded most.
gudea votive inScription
Clay ur III period. if not all. Eninnu. 1–58
57
57.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.

OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.25 x 2. 2100 bc Iraq. Shulgi is considered the architect of the short-lived Ur III empire. which is known for its highly centralized. ca. which was founded by Shulgi. the central government’s main redistribution center for livestock. cw
58
published
Hilgert 1998. making it perhaps the most documented era prior to the invention of the printing press. 2100–2000 bc). This particular text originates from Puzrish-Dagan (modern Drehem). a receipt for one dead lamb. 1–58 58.25 cm OIM A3275
This small administrative tablet. 400. specifically. An estimated 100. ur iii adminiStrative text (receipt for one dead lamb)
Clay ur III period. dates to the height of the Third Dynasty of Ur (conventionally labeled the Ur III period. the 46th regnal year of Shulgi.000 administrative texts survive from this brief period of Mesopotamian history.
84
. the second king of the Ur III dynasty. Drehem 2. 115. state-run economy and its unparalleled documentation.15 x 1. no. ca. p.

but in previous periods the number of wedges per sign can vary and only the general form of the character was significant (Civil 1992). The motif of envoys going back and forth between Uruk and Aratta with messages involving difficult tasks and riddles that the kings had to solve is undoubtedly charming for a mythological piece. 3200 bc). Cooper 1999. the city of Uruk (biblical Erech. several hundred years after the invention of writing (e. It was only after the archaic period (Uruk IV–III/Jemdet Nasr. judging from the available evidence. that is. When the Lord of Aratta received the first missive ever inscribed on a clay tablet he exclaimed with surprise and disbelief “It is wedges!” as he saw pegs instead of words (Vanstiphout 1989). p.š u m ₂ ). scholars have dubbed the writing system “cuneiform. The earliest signs were pictographic in the sense that they represented physical objects. and santakku “triangle. see table 3. but they were rather realistic and. 62). cuneiform wedge” (Sumerian ˘ g u . and Englund 1993).” Likewise. p. in modern times. nail. non-oral manner. and with the expression tikip santakki “cuneiform sign. modern Warka) in southern Mesopotamia (see Nissen. symbolic representations of words (Gelb 1952.1) that cuneiform signs acquired an abstract appearance that disguised any traces of their pictographic forerunners.. that is. p. Enmerkar not only showed intellectual superiority over his contender. but the connection between the invention of writing and the creation of an epistolary clay tablet to record oral communication failed scholarly scrutiny. Damerow.” similarly alluding to the shape of the characters (Latin cuneus “wedge. Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta also contains information that agrees with archaeological and philological discoveries. Similarly. ADAPTATIOn Of CunEIfOrM TO wrITE AKKADIAn
3. Nissen 1966). letters are a comparatively late development that first appeared around 2400 bc (Cooper 2004. during the Neo-Assyrian period (ca. Writing systems were not initially conceived to
85
T
reproduce speech (Michalowski 1998. 84). each sign has a specific number of wedges and every wedge is important. 2100/2000 bc). wedge” (Sumerian s a n t a k ). but they were subsequently simplified.” plus forma “form”). the Sumerian King List (ca. A ruler by the name of Enmerkar is mentioned in a later text.3. 43. and. 1000–600 bc ). Most modern historians date Enmerkar’s rule to the Early Dynastic II period (ca. whereas it has also been suggested that the title “Lord of Aratta” might be attested in the colophon of an
. The story Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta offers an intriguing blend of fiction and reality in a text coming from the beginning of the second millennium bc.g. 72). as the second monarch of the dynasty of Uruk after the Flood. but he also implicitly instituted cuneiform as a Mesopotamian creation that outsiders would need to learn and adopt. Although an aetiological myth. the oldest tablets currently available were indeed found in Enmerkar’s capital. In the final step of this development. the earliest signs used for writing. p. The narrative expresses the way certain scribe(s) imagined the invention of a system of wedge-shaped signs to convey a message in a graphic. The Lord of Aratta’s prompt identification of those markings on a piece of dried clay with wedges or nails (Sumerian g a g ) correlates with the Akkadian words sikkatu “peg. proto-cuneiform (ca.” mihis≥tu “stroke. occasionally. did not look like wedges. 2700 bc ). For instance. By inventing writing. AdApTATiON OF CuNEiFOrM TO wriTE AkkAdiAN *
anDrea Seri
ga g -am ₃ “It is wedges!” Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta
he Sumerian literary text Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta recounts that the legendary king Enmerkar of Uruk invented writing for the purpose of recording a very long letter addressed to his rival dwelling in the distant land of Aratta. succeeding his father Mes-kiag-gašer.

cuneiform script was employed during a period of about 3. among others. Old Persian. the chronological placement of early tablets. After
. Three factors contributed significantly to the challenging of previous explanations and to our current understanding of the process of adaptation. as implied in our myth. Luvian. and Abu Salabikh. As is usually the case. and Sumerian was relegated to literary texts and to other genres of the scholarly tradition. named after Sargon’s capital. the way in which cuneiform was employed to write Akkadian seemed to have been relatively transparent. and Sumerian became once again the language of the administration. Elamite. Assyriologists reconstructed the following scenario: Sumerian. It was Adam Falkenstein (1936) who.300 years (from ca. Gragg 1996) in a vast geographical area including modern Iraq. which are slightly older than those from Tello (ancient Lagash).g. After the decline and fall of the Sargonic empire. On a safer note. and even Egypt. Civil 1992. ad 100) to write a variety of languages such as Sumerian. p. Akkadian once again became the official language. and the discovery of tablets outside Babylonia dating to the Early Dynastic period (ca. Of course references to Enmerkar and to the title Lord of Aratta do not directly prove the identification of this name and title with the characters of the Sumerian literary composition. namely. Iran. This realization was most important because those personal names represent the first attestation of Semitic words written with cuneiform signs. p. Michalowski 1996.. 17). Akkadian. After this so-called “Neo-Sumerian” period. This is the case in part because for such a reconstruction scholars depend on the chance of discovery. however. To this sequence one can now add tablets found at Tell Uqair. According to his classification.. was the written language of Mesopotamia until King Sargon (ca. In the following section I discuss some of these issues. things turned out to be more complicated than originally thought. Bonechi and Durand 1992). and Khafajeh (see Nissen 1998. and after a second hiatus come those from Fara (ancient Shuruppak). Indeed. but they do place them within the framework of Mesopotamian tradition. and Ugaritic (e. Palaic. They are followed by texts with similar ductus from Jemdet Nasr and Uruk III. the identification of Semitic names in texts written in Sumerian. Eblaite. Adab. a major turning point toward the understanding of the adoption of cuneiform to write Semitic languages occurred when Robert Biggs (1967) demonstrated that Early Dynastic tablets from Abu Salabikh contain numerous Semitic personal names. first proposed a chronological arrangement of those tablets which is still considered generally valid. Scholarly efforts to understand the way in which cuneiform was adapted to write Akkadian are still ongoing and they are subject to and at the same time limited by philological and archaeological discoveries. as undisputable as the existence of archaic Uruk tablets is the adoption of cuneiform writing by polities outside Uruk. the Levant.g.
intellectual and historical background for the adoption of cuneiform writing
The adoption of cuneiform to write Akkadian as well as other Semitic languages is still poorly understood. official documents were now mostly written in a Semitic language known today as Old Akkadian. on the archaeological sites that have been excavated. and those from Kish. After a chronological hiatus follow the archaic tablets from Ur. Urartian. a linguistic isolate. as well as archaic and pre-Sargonic tablets found at Mari (e. 2500/2400 bc ). For several decades after the official decipherment of cuneiform in 1857. Tell Asmar. 2350–2110 bc ) scribes used
86
the same cuneiform script as Sumerian.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Uruk tablet from the archaic period (Green 1980. 2334–2279 bc) established his capital in the city of Akkad and built an unprecedented empire. a new order appeared under the kings of the Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 22). after its invention by Sumerian speakers. Hurrian. it was then assumed that cuneiform was originally adopted and adapted from Sumerian for Old Akkadian. According to this theory. the most ancient group consists of tablets dating to the fourth stratigraphic level of Uruk (Uruk IV). Turkey. In this newly created regime. 2100–2003 bc). Charpin 1987 and 1998. Hittite. based on the documents from southern Mesopotamia available in the 1930s. 3200 bc to ca. During that time. and for Old Akkadian (ca. Once tablets were properly classified. and on philological progress.

uqair. a west semitic language. This discovery allowed the identification of Eblaite as an East Semitic language which.1.. The new evidence furthered studies on the adoption of cuneiform and on the connections between literary and
lexical traditions from Babylonia (e.3. ADAPTATIOn Of CunEIfOrM TO wrITE AKKADIAn
those two major achievements.g. The attestation of Semitic names in Early Dynastic tablets and the discovery of tablets from sites in northern Babylonia and in Syria led to
table 3. also used cuneiform writing. possibly larsa. 2400–2350 bc ) first appeared in 1975–1976. two archaeological discoveries in Syria again changed the picture: the archives of Ebla (modern Tell Mardikh) and Nabada (modern Tell Beydar). 2400): late pre-sargonic • Ebla texts (texts written in Eblaite. 2400 bc) from the Syrian Djezirah (see Sallaberger 1998). considered to be the first preSargonic documents (ca.
Early Dynastic 2500 bc Early Dynastic III King Mesalim of Kish (Adab. One important conclusion drawn from these studies is that Akkadian and other Semitic languages were already written in cuneiform before the Sargonic period and before the adoption of a predominantly syllabic writing. and lagash under his control)
2400 bc
Early Dynastic IIIb (ca. and Tell Asmar • ca. like Akkadian. Although excavations at Ebla began in 1964. So impressive was the discovery of Ebla. 2800 archaic texts from ur After the archaic period cuneiform signs take a completely abstract appearance
2900 bc 2700 bc 2600 bc
Early Dynastic I Early Dynastic II
Kish regional center ca. Pettinato 2003). Civil 1984. Jemdet nasr. Milano 1998. 1996). close linguistic relative of Akkadian) • Mari tablets • Tell Beydar texts • Tell Brak tablets • first sumerian letters appear
87
. 2600/2500) • Cuneiform transformed from a record keeping technology into a mode of linguistic expression • literary texts appear • Tablets from shuruppak (fara) • Tablets from Tell Abu salabikh: earliest tablets written in semitic (Personal names) • Tablets from nippur and Adab • By 2500 cuneiform was adapted to write semitic languages in Mesopotamia and syria. tablets and fragments from the third millennium (ca. Similar undertakings were also possible thanks to the discovery of the cuneiform texts from Nabada in 1993 (Ismail et al. that one scholar declared it to be the great surprise of ancient Middle Eastern history (Edzard 1994). umma. Overview of the periods mentioned in this section
Approximate Dates Period Political Events Developments in the History of Writing and Adaptation
3200 bc Archaic
late uruk / uruk Iv uruk III / Jemdet nasr
Invention of writing uruk III: attested in uruk. Archi 1992. 2700 first royal inscriptions appear King Mebaragesi of Kish Early Dynastic IIIa (ca.

In a little more detail: 1.g. Although the earliest script is essentially logographic (i. or some other language. Steinkeller 1995) for the reading of certain signs. however. was very limited. -šu. Piotr Michalowski (1998. 3) writing Sumerian as Sumerian. a determinative or classifier. certain Uruk IV–III signs can already be employed syllabically as phonetic indicators (Krispijn 1991–92. CV (consonant+vowel. Civil concluded that in the case of ancient Mesopotamia. 3) written in Sumerian and read in Akkadian. cuneiform signs consist of simple wedges or of the combination of five basic . for example. wedges: Labat 1995.g. VC (vowel+consonant.
a) Cuneiform Writing
The cuneiform writing system invented around 3200 bc underwent multiple changes throughout the approximately 3. pp. 2) written and read in Akkadian. 3. In archaic tablets. and they were also inscribed on other media such as stone. waxed wooden boards. 75–76). p. šar). ka-al-bu-um “dog. Akkadian. etc..” or they can be used as phonetic complements
88
cuneiform writing. Krebernik 1994. In the later periods. Modern sign lists (e. writing was something of a mnemonic device in which readers were supposed to supply those elements of the language that were not written down. it is called a syllabogram or a phonogram. Based on a comparison with the adaptation of the Chinese script to Japanese literature.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
the question whether those records were written in Sumerian..
to be read. the presence of Akkadian morphemes such as the preposition in and certain suffixes (e.g. 2) reading Sumerian as Akkadian. e.g. A few years later.e. Clues that could establish the language in which a text was written include: provenance (because a document from the south was more likely to be in Sumerian. At that stage. Such signs can be read in any lang u d (Sumerian). In cuneiform there are four types of syllables: V (vowel only). for example.g.). e. and 4) written in Akkadian and read in Sumerian. guage. When a sign represents a whole word is called a logogram.. a sign represents a word). and CVC (consonant+vowel+consonant.g. the phonetic use of signs for syllables increased and an individual character could then have three main functions: it could represent a whole word. or ̃ k a 2 + d i g i r + r a + k i  Bābilu k i (the city of Babylon). ab). has argued that this approach was far too simplistic.. where k i (“land. Impressions of signs were made with a reed stylus on wet clay. district”) shows that the preceding term is a geographic name. or a syllable..” 2. When a logogram functions as a determinative or a classifier. in theory a cuneiform text could be: 1) written and read in Sumerian. where the logogram d i g i r ̃ (“god”) indicates that the following word is a divine name. or word signs. Determinatives were graphic devices and were not pronounced. an Akkadian or Semitic speaker could have handled Sumerian in four different ways: 1) reading Sumerian as Sumerian. and the adaptation of cuneiform to write akkadian
A brief description of cuneiform writing and of the Sumerian and Akkadian languages is necessary in order to discuss how cuneiform worked for Sumerian and how it was adapted to write Akkadian. or were redundant. e. whereas a text from the north or from Syria was more likely to be Akkadian). Miguel Civil (1984. e. When a sign represents the sound of a syllable. signs did not necessarily appear in the order they were intended
. 45) argued similarly when he stated that there are preSargonic texts written in Akkadian even if they are written mainly with Sumerian characters used as word signs or logograms. or the employ of logograms and syllables exclusively used in Akkadian or Semitic texts. According to him. alpum (Akkadian) “ox. ba).300 years in which it was used. Borger 2004) arrange individual signs following the shape and orientation of those five wedges in the sequence shown above. especially when a text is mostly written in logograms.. This phenomenon. however. Syllabograms can be used to write a word phonetically. akkadian.. and metal. -ka. sumerian. In later periods. and 4) writing Akkadian as Sumerian. it precedes or follows a d i g i r + u t u  d u t u (the sun ̃ word: god Shamash).

ú and ù). if they occur. habitual or continuous action).. (u ₂ ). a . the sign has many different readings. ̃ as Anum.(directional morpheme -am with the -m assimilated to the following consonant. Syllabograms can be polyphonous.3. ut. 91). Conversely. tu₂. pir. For example. the Akkadian verbal root usually has three radicals that can be modified by consonantal reduplication.š a g ₄ -lam to be read in Akkadian eqlum..e i n . is. Consider. -a. for example. šamû in the form of the genitive/accusative plural). ADAPTATIOn Of CunEIfOrM TO wrITE AKKADIAn
to disambiguate the reading of a logogram. Another feature. It is actually the earliest Semitic language attested and it was employed until the first century ad.(infix with iterative force. Note that in Assyriological transliteration. (u ₃ ). -š. the logogram in Akkadian as ilum “god” (Sumerian d i g i r ). -k).(theme vowel that indicates present/future). -tana. is that this language has a simple but strict rule that does not allow clusters of more than two consonants which. and -kim (dative pronominal suffix.2). will always be separated by a syllable boundary. The choice of signs to represent a particular syllable is not completely arbitrary but follows certain rules which vary depending on geographic and diachronic conventions. Its morphological analysis. For instance. including ud.(doubled 2nd radical that indicates present/future). eqlam in the nominative. tam. unlike Sumerian. and it includes both the Assyrian and Babylonian dialects (table 3. In other words. the syllable /u/ can be (u). lah.(1st-person common singular conjugational prefix)..
b) Sumerian and Akkadian
Sumerian is a linguistic isolate because — like. in which words are inflected by stringing identifiable morphemes one after another before or after a given root that is in itself invariable. in the sentence e r e š . -r.e. Akkadian was the language of ancient Babylonians and Assyrians. The writing a n -e (a n -noun + e-phonetic complement) shows then that in this case the logogram should have an Akkadian ending /e/ and thus must be šamê (i. a . and because of the agglutinative character of the language. the verb aštanapparakkim (root š-p-r) “I (will) keep writing to you.g. u₃. meaning “tree”. A similar case of disambiguation is the use of syllabic signs to specify the grammatical ending of a word. The morphological pattern is therefore:
a š tana infix pp a r ak kim suffix
prefix radical
radical theme radical suffix vowel
Thus. or as šamû “heaven” (also a n in Sumerian). on the other hand.g. can be read For instance. such as Hebrew and Arabic. -ak. u₂. Akkadian. p. which actually became crucial in the way the Sumerian writing system was adapted to write Akkadian. or written: (u ₄). it expresses a repeated. For example. signs with homophonous readings are differentiated by subscript numbers (e.t u d . Thus in the Old Babylonian period. and accusative cases respectively (Reiner 1966. It further has an internal vowel pattern.” the verbal root t u d is preceded by the morphemes /i/ and /n/ and followed by the morpheme /en/ (Michalowski 1980. a primarily logographic writing system was quite suitable for Sumerian. genitive. Occasionally a single sign can be used in all three .š a g ₄ -lum.” has the syllables ašÚtaÚnapÚpaÚrakÚkim. i. u₄) or by accents (e. Because Sumerian roots are mostly monosyllabic and internally unalterable. scribes
. lih. for instance. and hiš. which can functions.š a g ₄ -lim. and it may also represent the syllables is≥.. and other additions such as prefixes. Like other Semitic languages. par. Etruscan or Basque — it is not related to any other known language. p.e n “The queen bore me. be read g e š logographically. is related to other languages. Ambiguities can furthermore be reduced by the use of classifiers and phonetic indicators. Akkadian has no syllables that start or end with more than one consonant. whereas the Sumerian verbal root was monosyllabic and could not be internally altered. is as follows: a. ut≥. the logogram a . ˘ ˘ ˘ several different signs can have homophonous readings. 2nd-person feminine singular). eqlim. Thus
89
for instance.(1st radical). infixes and suffixes.š a g ₄ “field” can be written a . It is an agglutinative language. it can ̃ function as a determinative preceding the names of trees or wooden objects. 26).(third radical). and iz. -pp.e. a divine name (a n in Sumerian).

. scholarly texts. harem decrees. royal inscriptions) standard Babylonian Akkadian used to write Babylonian and Assyrian royal inscriptions and literary texts
Old Assyrian 2000–1500 bc Old Babylonian
Assyrian colonies in Anatolia
Isin/larsa dynasties hammurabi dynasty
Middle Assyrian 1500–1100 bc Middle Babylonian
Middle Assyrian kingdom
Kassite dynasty
neo-Assyrian 1000–600 bc neo-Babylonian 600 bc– ad 100 late second and first millennium late Babylonian
neo-Assyrian empire neo-Babylonian empire Mesopotamia under foreign rule
90
. that since the third millennium — and in
later periods in scribal circles at least — Sumerian and Akkadian were in very close contact.” In addition. literary texts) Middle Assyrian Akkadian is sparsely attested (letters. especially for the prefixal and suffixal morphemes. isolated form. royal inscriptions of rulers of Assur. for instance. Middle Assyrian laws from Assur) Middle Babylonian Akkadian is sparsely attested (letters and economic documents. economic and legal documents. The transition from logograms to syllabograms. which led certain scholars to maintain that we read Sumerian through an Akkadian looking glass (e. played an important role in the adaptation of cuneiform to write Akkadian. documents from Ebla and Tell Beydar were discovered. Ishan Mizyad) used Akkadian as well Old Assyrian Akkadian (letters and legal and economic documents from Kanesh. but a huge amount of progress has been made when one compares the current knowledge with that of four or five decades ago.
table 3.g.. economic and legal documents.2.. One cannot emphasize enough. although small archives in the north (e. Edzard 1998. a few magical texts) Old Babylonian Akkadian (a diverse variety of genres preserved: e. 35). 76) is right to remind us that “languages do not exist in a chemically pure. even if a number of syllabic values of certain signs were already available in the earliest stages of writing Sumerian. including literary texts) neo-Babylonian Akkadian (letters. and Civil (1984. for instance. royal inscriptions) late Babylonian Akkadian (letters. that is. had a number of options to write aštanapparakkim syllabically. p. p.g. an Old Babylonian scribe. because of the history of decipherment. One choice is aš-ta-na-ap-pa-ra-ak-ki-im. royal inscriptions. before the time when. letters. scholarly writings. economic and legal documents. though. our understanding of Sumerian is significantly influenced by our knowledge of Akkadian. The Akkadian language throughout history
Approximate Dates Period Political Events Developments in the History of Languages and Dialects
2350 bc 2100 bc
Old Akkadian ur III
King sargon of Akkad Third Dynasty of ur
Old Akkadian dialect: earliest attestation of the Akkadian language Predominant use of sumerian for bureaucracy. a few royal inscriptions and boundary stones or kudurrus) neo-Assyrian Akkadian (many letters.g. legal and economic documents. The brief description of the two languages presented above is obviously simplified for the sake of convenience. economic documents. As a result. therefore. without including syllabograms of the CVC type. using only signs with values CV and VC. Many gaps in our reconstruction of the process of adaptation still remain.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
writing Akkadian needed an essentially phonetic syllabic system in order to convey the semantically important structural characteristics of the language. omens. royal inscriptions. royal inscriptions.

p. 210 N) *MEE 3 = Pettinato 1981
ga-al hul-gal-ga-al ki ˘ (MEE 3 237. Examples include:
CVC lum sa-na-rux-lum šum / šum₂ su-šum   vs.3. This discovery must have given them flexibility to express linguistic subtleties by means of a phonetic rendering of words. where the phonetic spelling CV-VC expresses a CVC syllable. Even though it is impossible to provide an exact date. The discovery of the potential of the syllabic values of logograms possibly had already happened during the Uruk IV period because there are a few combined cuneiform signs in which one of the elements functions as a phonetic complement for the reading of that sign (see 2. and also because of chronological gaps. Judging from the extant evidence. The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing. This was done at the expense of writing quite a few more wedges (in this period the sign d i g i r had simply four). 2900 bc) the city of Kish had become a regional center for northern Babylonia. at times influencing also the south. One important thing to notice from the writing of these personal names is that they already combine
91
VC. but the scribe was possibly making the statement that his name was Semitic and not Sumerian. The question pertaining to how cuneiform was adapted is equally hypothetical and I now present the clues that are available to understand the adaptation. 42 A)
 vs. Consider for example the following patterns of names from Abu Salabikh (Biggs 1967. but the process seems to have started even before that. 2600 bc) tablets from Fara and from Abu Salabikh. this volume). r iii: 2)
(MEE 3 199. ADAPTATIOn Of CunEIfOrM TO wrITE AKKADIAn
c) Adaptation of Cuneiform to Write Akkadian
The two basic yet fundamental issues related to the process of adapting cuneiform to write Akkadian are: when and how did it happen? Both questions are problematic because of the nature and the fragmentary character of the evidence. 37). The first attestations of Semitic personal names written syllabically in texts from Fara and Abu Salabikh seem to indicate that scribes had realized by then that the sound of signs could also be used as syllabic values of cuneiform signs. Evidence for this important development in syllabification comes from Ebla texts. lets us suspect that perhaps the beginning of the adaptation occurred still earlier than that. 210 a)
. This political predominance has led scholars to hypothesize that the process of adaptation must also have already been taking place in the Kish area at this early time (Cooper 1999. however. For instance. and CVC signs and logograms.  vs. although unfortunately we do not yet have any textual information from there proving this point. This is the case because during the Early Dynastic I period (ca. he was also indicating that the following logogram should be read in Semitic.  vs. But the syllabic potential of signs was not fully exploited until later. CV. 208 a)
mu-ud ad-mu-ud ki (MEE 3 237. The following CVC signs are all attested in the Uruk IV period (Green and Nissen 1987). 99 A)
(MEE 3 196. p. In the Early Dynastic IIIa (ca. vi: 4)
(MEE 3 231. 5 B)
nu-ri₂-šum₂ ban ban-ga ki
(MEE 3 192. p. Political history. it is almost certain that the adaptation of cuneiform to write Akkadian originated in northern Babylonia. 62):
iš-lul-il i₃-lum-ma-lik uš-mi-il pu zu r ₄ -il i₃-lum-g ar ₃ = = = = = VC-CVC-VC V-CVC-CV-CVC VC-CV-VC logogram-VC V-CVC-logogram
The fact that personal names were the first attested words written syllabically may have been related to the need to identify people properly. ̃ Yet a further step in the adaptation process is the splitting of CVC signs into CV-VC. 64). 208 S) mud ≠ad-mud ± ki (MEE 3 237. the name ̃ i₃-lum-g a r ₃ could have been written simply d i g i rg a r ₃ all in Sumerian logograms.  vs. This was perhaps a way of preventing ambiguities that may have created some confusion. Semitic names were already written syllabically. 16 a)
gal [hu]l-gal-gal ki
(MEE 3 237.
(MEE 3 230. it is now known that cuneiform was already being adapted to write Semitic languages in Mesopotamia and Syria by about 2500 bc (Cooper 1996. lu-um u₃-lu-um šu-um la-ha-šu-um ˘ (MEE 3 193: vi: 12) ba-an sa-la-ba-an ki CV-VC
(MEE 3* 218. By providing one of the elements of his name in Semitic.

Michalowski 2008). p. 2100 bc) and later. The fact that during the Old Akkadian period the writing system was still in a process of adaptation makes it difficult to analyze Sargonic orthography (Hasselbach 2005. and emphatic phonemes were not yet distinguished (Cooper 1996. From this site in Syria come Early Dynastic lexical lists that go back to the Uruk period (Pettinato 1981). in the examples from Ebla. unlike the instances from the personal names from Abu Salabikh. It is not unlikely that scribes from Babylonian cities had already discovered those advantages of syllabification and made use of the pedagogical potential of syllables. For instance the phoneme /s ≥ / is part of the Akkadian inventory. 2000–1595 bc ) such phonemes were written with signs containing H V (khet+vowel) or the VH (vowel+khet) sign. This is so in part because. because syllables allowed them to assign phonological values to logograms and to convey the inflexions of Semitic languages. Only in the Old Babylonian period did this process reach a level where basically all phonological and morphological features of Akkadian could be written in an almost unambiguous way. is≥ . a new sign with the value Vº (vowel+aleph) and ºV (aleph+vowel) is attested only from the Middle Babylonian period (ca. The phenomenon is structurally relevant for the adaptation of cuneiform and becomes more prominent in the Sumerian texts of the ruler Gudea of Lagash (ca. The base of ̃ the Akkadian noun.g. Some of these lexical lists include Sumerian words with their Semitic translations (most likely in the Eblaite language) and others were versions written in syllabic Sumerian. The sounds of Akkadian were therefore reconstructed from other Semitic languages and. This problem was solved by assigning new values to existing cuneiform signs by applying the rebus principle phonetically.. 1500–1100 bc) on. pp. the Sumerogram g e š (“wood”) means is≥um in Akkadian. All this implies that by the time of Sargon of Akkad the adaptation of cuneiform was very advanced but by no means over. ˘ ˘ Regarding the reconstruction of phonemic adaptations. One could speculate that the phonetic rendering of Sumerian in Ebla was done because in Syria Sumerian was a foreign language that scribes had to learn in order to adopt the writing system for which it was created. which were used mainly for scribal training. however. These lists are important because they “represent the first instance of the systematic use of cuneiform signs for the syllabic representation of both Semitic and Sumerian” (Civil 1982. 187–205. 16). but it is clear that the process was not completed by the Sargonic period because in the Old Akkadian syllabary. as we have seen. For example. since Akkadian is Semitic and Sumerian
92
is an isolate. are best represented by the full writing of verbal forms. there is in practice no real Akkadian phonetics (Buccellati 1996. each language had a different phonemic inventory and adjustments were necessary to convey more accurate phonemic information. for instance. the sequence CV-VC represents the phonetic spelling of a CVC sign. p. One of the earliest extant syllabaries also comes precisely from Ebla and can be dated to around 2500 bc (Pettinato 1981.
. but it did not exist in Sumerian. where the writing CV-VC is separated by a word/morpheme boundary (e. whereas in the Old Babylonian period (ca. Another fundamental piece of information to understand the importance of syllabification and therefore the adaptation of cuneiform originates also from Ebla. Perhaps simultaneously or slightly later scribes also provided the Semitic translation of Sumerian words.” a phenomenon known as “the scribal reform of Hammurabi’s chancellery.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Thus. was therefore adopted as one of the syllabic values of the sign g e š to write ̃ the syllables is≥ . because of that. The adaptation of all the necessary syllables from the Sumerian system to write Akkadian may have caused certain challenges because. it is important to remember that any knowledge of Akkadian and Sumerian was lost for about two thousand years. p. It is unknown exactly when this happened. voiced. voiceless.” Not coincidentally. 22). for instance. Akkadian phonology remains an educated guess. Akkadian had then reached the level of “full writing. 35). p. the adaptation of cuneiform was still ongoing in later periods when. The employment of syllabic values explains the development of syllabaries or lists of signs and their values. this also seems to have been the only time in the history of Akkadian cuneiform script that an effort was made to establish a normative “orthography. Inflexions. the compound name uš-mi-il = ušmi-word1+il-word2).” But even after this. even though Akkadian phonemics is well known. 46). iz. is.

Thanks are also due Nadine Moeller. He undoubtedly would have been proud to know that his combination of wedges was still conveying messages thousands of years later until the very beginning of the Common Era. Perhaps the same reasoning can be applied to the use of convoluted logograms and exegetical commentaries of first-millennium texts. p. 59). Michalowski 1987). Although it may seem that syllabification implied a big step toward the simplification of the writing system. In Ebla. When looking at them with a Mesopotamian frame of mind. One feature that one should keep in mind for the persistent use of logograms is what Jerrold Cooper (1999.
note
* I wish to thank Walter Farber. This brings us back to Enmerkar’s pride in defeating the Lord of Aratta by inventing a writing system. After all. Akkadian kept employing a mixed logo-syllabic system throughout its written history. the economy principle does not work in all cases (Cooper 2004).
Resorting to syllables undoubtedly simplifies the sign repertoire if one so desires. Tytus Mikolajczak. however.3. in the late first millennium when Sumerian had been a dead language for a long time. in the Old Babylonian period (Catalog No. writing was occasionally modified to keep up with Babylonian conventions (see Durand 1985 and 1992. because in places such as Mari. scribes tended to use syllabic writing for proper names and for linguistic elements but not for nouns and verbs. One could very well suspect that the process of adaptation had different avenues in different geographic areas and periods. The potential for simplification is obvious when one considers that Uruk IV shows a repertoire of about 1. For example. when writing was adopted by non-Sumerian speakers/writers. Doris Fraker. 67). gal . ADAPTATIOn Of CunEIfOrM TO wrITE AKKADIAn
The available evidence allows us to present only an artificial reconstruction of the process of adaptation because of the qualitative and quantitative character of the extant records and their distribution. Similarly. Akkadian divinatory and astronomical texts can be 85 percent logograms (Civil 1973. and Annalisa Azzoni for reading the paper and offering suggestions. 69. This persistence in the use of logograms might have been related to the fact that. 251) argued that the use of logograms responded to a “principle of economy” because fewer signs are employed (e. The persistence in the use of logograms may have depended on scribal preferences and on the writing of specific genres. 26). the implementation of syllabic writing does not mean that suddenly all verbs and other words were written syllabically throughout ancient Syro-Mesopotamia.” His comment was meant to explain the very difficult allographic ud . Ignace Gelb (1952. “dog” written u r in Sumerian vs. but the use of logograms makes it easy to skim through a text.200 signs. whereas literary texts are almost entirely syllabic (there is less redundancy since the phonetic realization is important).. for example. and by the mid-third millennium it was possible to write Akkadian and Sumerian with about 150 signs (Cooper 1996. Although the syllabic component of the adaptation was very important. a number of conventions may have become frozen in certain areas far away from Babylonia. p. even though they could have done so. we can find economic documents written mostly with logograms alongside letters written mostly syllabically.g.. 73) has described as “a symptom of the perverse pleasure that academics can take in their most arcane and recondite creations. Therefore experimentations on the adaptation could have been multifarious. What is more. Michalowski 1998). and they eventually did (Cooper 1999. both syllabograms and logograms have pros and cons. Generalizations. But a number of factors may have influenced the adoption and maintaining of a logo-syllabic system. scholars have always been proud of their intellectual sophistication. scribes learned the system by copying Sumerian texts and by learning Sumerian lexical lists (e. p. but as other scholars have shown. p. As a result. Krecher 1992). nun orthography of early Sumerian literary texts. ka-al-bu-um in Akkadian). and Lori Calabria for technical help with electronic drawings. a number that was reduced significantly in later periods. encompassing successful trials and others that were discarded. logographic writing was never abandoned. tend to be misleading.g.
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.

the recipient. Personal letters of this kind are common in the Old Babylonian period and first make their appearance in the written record in the second half of the third millennium. The tablet also exemplifies the physical characteristics of the script in the first half of the second millennium. cw

This Old Babylonian letter details a request for money to buy a slave girl; it also includes an ingratiating inquiry into the well-being of

This famous lexical list, known as the “Chicago Syllabary,” dates to the first millennium bc, although the content was probably compiled earlier in the second millennium. The text gives the Sumerian and Akkadian pronunciations of various cuneiform signs along with their names. As such, the text provides unique insights into how the ancients understood and analyzed their languages and the cuneiform script. The list is organized by sign shape. The tablet consists of two halves, with each half divided into four columns. The first column gives the pronunciation of a given sign and the second
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column gives the corresponding graph. The third column gives the name of the sign as given by the Babylonian compilers (in some cases a descriptive designation that blends Sumerian and Akkadian), while the fourth column gives the corresponding Akkadian pronunciation. In addition to the importance of its content, the text exemplifies the development of the cuneiform script in the first millennium bc. cw

This ornamental peg of blue frit is one of four excavated in the Southeast Palace, often called the Harem of Xerxes, at Persepolis, the complex of palaces built by the Achaemenid kings in the Persian heartland of their empire. This peg and two others have inscriptions of Darius I (522–486 bc), the founder of Persepolis: “Knobbed peg of precious stone (or lapis lazuli) made in the house of Darius the King.” The fourth peg has a similar inscription in the name of his son and successor Xerxes (486–465 bc). In a striking departure from the practices of other ancient Middle Eastern rulers, the Achaemenid Persian kings usually displayed their inscriptions, whether on palace walls, on column bases and doorframes, on ornamental or precious items, on stelae, or on cliff faces, in three unrelated languages: Old Persian (an Indo-European language), Akkadian (a Semitic
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language), and Elamite (a linguistic isolate, indigenous to ancient western Iran). Inscriptions set up in Egypt or carved on objects brought from Egypt often add a fourth version, in Egyptian, written with hieroglyphs. Where the versions are displayed together, the language of the rulers, Old Persian, is normally on top or in the middle. Here, the upper line is in Old Persian, in Old Persian writing; the lower line has the Babylonian and Elamite versions, in two variants of Mesopotamian cuneiform writing. The Old Persian characters are composed of wedges, but they are not drawn from Mesopotamian cuneiform characters, and Old Persian writing is systematically different from Mesopotamian cuneiform. Old Persian writing has only thirty-six syllabic signs: three vowels (a, i, u), four of the type C(onsonant)+i (e.g., di, mi, vi), seven of the type C+u (e.g., du, mu, ru), and

twenty-two of the kind C+a, also representing consonant alone (e.g., ka or k, ta or t, pa or p). It has seven signs representing words (e.g., “king”); a word-divider (here, the single slanting wedge ); and numerals. Almost all the characters have five or fewer strokes, and the strokes never cross, making the script especially appropriate for carving in stone or metal. Many scholars believe that Old Persian writing was invented at the command of Darius I. It is used for no other language. The Akkadian and Elamite versions are written in two variants of the same Mesopotamian cuneiform script used for Sumerian, Eblaite, Hittite, Hurrian, and Urartian. Its hundreds of characters were of several types: syllabograms, representing syllables of several kinds (C[onsonant]+V[owel], V+C, C+V+C, and V+C+V); logograms, representing words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and prepositions); determinatives, unpronounced characters indicating semantic categories (e.g., identifying a noun as the name of a bird, of a wooden thing, of a place name); and numerals. Many characters belong to more than one of these types. Many have more than one syllabic value (polyphony), and many syllabic values are represented by more than one sign (homophony). From about 2100 bc on, Elamite texts were written with cuneiform signs that were similar in form to contemporary Mesopotamian signs, but after about 650 bc the forms of many Elamite characters diverged. To a modern eye (and perhaps to an ancient eye) the forms are perhaps as distinctive as German Fraktur forms of European alphabetic characters.

Elamite scribes did not use the rich array of graphic options that Mesopotamian cuneiform allowed. They introduced some syllabic and determinative values specific to Elamite, but most of their adaptations were in the direction of graphic economy. In any period, they used only about 100–140 characters, using logograms only to represent nouns, and they made very sparing use of homophony and polyphony, almost eliminating them entirely by the time the Achaemenid Persians wrote inscriptions and kept records in Elamite. The results of this economy, and of the structural difference between the Mesopotamian/ Elamite and the Old Persian systems, can be seen when the three versions of Achaemenid inscriptions are displayed side by side: the Old Persian needs more characters and more space than the other versions, as it does here; the Elamite often needs more characters and more space than the Akkadian. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries ad, the trilingual inscriptions of the Achaemenid Persian kings, copied from the palaces of Persepolis and Susa, were the basis for the first steps in the decipherment of the cuneiform scripts. Old Persian, combining a small sign inventory, little polyphony, and no homophony, with consistent writing rules to represent a language from a family that was familiar to the decipherers, was the first to yield, affording a basis for interpreting the far more complicated Akkadian cuneiform and then its sparer Elamite variant. mws

published
Schmidt 1939, p. 62, fig. 42; Schmidt 1957, p. 50.

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223 bc Iraq. 223 bc).vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.4 cm OIM A2519
This Akkadian legal text from the Seleucid period demonstrates the development of the cuneiform script at the end of script’s life at the end of the first millennium bc (the text is dated to July 10. 19. 59–62
62
62.7 x 10. 98
. uruk 11. July 10.0 x 3. See also: Baker 2004.
Seleucid legal text (Sale of a houSe plot)
Clay seleucid period. p. cw
published
Weisberg 1991. 94. no.

It used few word-signs and comprised just over 100 signs with a syllabic value (e. tup). when.
W
anatolia: the early years
When written sources begin to flow in Anatolia early in the second millennium bc. OIM A2531
.4.
19th–18th century bc. The most important center was the city of Kanes (also known as Nesa). There is no evidence that the Anatolians ever felt the urge to use the script systematically for their own purposes.g. Certain mistakes made in the Assyrian documents betray how sometimes local Anatolians would use the Semitic language and its script. Old Assyrian clay tablet. With few interruptions this network lasted from about 2000 into the 1730s. ThE riSE ANd FALL OF CuNEiFOrM SCripT iN hiTTiTE ANATOLiA
theo van Den hout
hy. One of the reasons the Anatolians do not seem to have been ready for a script of their own may be that in this period Anatolia formed no political unity. and how. Over twenty thousand records have been found thus far. The area was a conglomeration of small independent and probably largely self-sufficient city-states in a mountainous landscape that favored
figure 4. In their dealings with the local population and in contacts with their firms back home. This commercial network consisted of several trading posts and hubs spread throughout central Anatolia and extended along some major routes all the way to their hometown in Assyria. The interesting thing about Anatolia is that we may be able to answer some of the above questions. i. a. at first its society becomes visible only indirectly through the lens of a network of merchants from Assur. where. writing is already there and usually societies were not interested in recording for us the why. and there is even evidence for some level of bilingualism in the local population. They themselves mostly spoke the IndoEuropean languages Hittite and Luwian. 4. others the non-Indo-European and non-Semitic Hattian.. and how does a society start to write? And when they do. The tablets have a very characteristic look with their rulings and the right slant of the signs (fig. these traders used their own Assyrian language written in a simple form of cuneiform script. Yet
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when the network came to an end and the merchants returned home for good. ThE rIsE AnD fAll Of CunEIfOrM sCrIPT In hITTITE AnATOlIA
4. from where do they get their script? In many cases these early steps toward literacy are shrouded in darkness. they mingled and married.1. because when our earliest sources begin to flow. The Assyrians lived in close proximity with the local Anatolians. Kanes. ku. let alone to record their own languages. never to return. id.1). Turkey. they took the language and the script with them.

who put up an inscription. 4.0 x 1. Although the original has not been preserved.this volume). The later hieroglyphic script used in Anatolia stands in the same tradition in that it draws on the same material surroundings for the inspiration of its symbols (see 13. a ceramic shape. Clay lumps or bullae with such symbols impressed in them have been found in many places in Anatolia. With small local economies and no international relations to speak of.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 4. just as we might recognize an elephant or a donkey symbolizing a political party or just as we immediately associate an illegible scribble as the signature of a person we know.5 cm OIM A10994
a
b
geographical isolation. Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing. In this system a symbol.
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The first-known effort to unite many of the hitherto independent settlements into a kingdom of sorts was made by Anitta. the first among whom is “Anita. it was nipped in
figure 4. Prince. field no. we have later copies in Hittite. an animal or a piece of vegetation.” Was this a first step toward some form of internal administration. because of a spearhead with the Assyrian inscription “Palace of Anitta. It shows how all withdrawals from a storeroom over what may have been the equivalent of a fiscal year or period could be followed in great detail.2).3. For their local administration they had developed a system of symbols that did not represent speech. but which could be used for surprisingly detailed and efficient bookkeeping. just before the end of the Assyrian presence in Anatolia. (a) Bulla with abstract shapes and (b) reverse suggesting it was used to seal a leather(?) bag. Anitta’s name (yellow) on a small tablet
from Alishar höyük. with his name points in the same direction (fig. This makes it likely that the publicly displayed inscription just mentioned likewise used the same medium.” who have appended their seal to some unnamed object. likewise in Assyrian. 4. or other abstract looking design (fig. Doubt is in order.2. king of Kanes around 1750. Great Prince. Alishar höyük. 4. but there is uncertainty as to whether it was originally written in that language or in Assyrian. It lists a number of dignitaries. Such systems probably sufficed for the internal administration of most of the cities and towns in Anatolia. Clay. including who made them. scale 1:1
. a geometric pattern. b1600. that is. If this was indeed the beginning of using the Old Assyrian cuneiform by the local Anatolian government for internal purposes. among them in Kanes and the later Hittite capital Hattusa.0 x 3. It may be no surprise then that he is the first local ruler we know of. probably stood for a person or a group of individuals. The impression of that symbol on a lump of clay attached to a container with goods showed who had been responsible for filling the container or for taking goods out and closing it again most recently.3). using Assyrian cuneiform and language? A small clay document. This is best illustrated by the seal impressions found at the fourth-millennium bc site of Arslantepe near Malatya. there was little need for long lines of communication.

4. We have to assume that all those centuries since the Assyrians had started their trading the Anatolians observed
them using the cuneiform script but felt little to no need to adopt it systematically for themselves. scale 1:1
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. Anitta’s short-lived kingdom and Anatolia reverted to their illiterate and oral ways. Their own administrative system fully satisfied their needs and the collapse of Anitta’s kingdom put an end to what may have been a first attempt at implementing the script.4. letter in syrian cuneiform script from the hittite ruler hattusili I to the syrian ruler Tunip-tessub.
figure 4. ThE rIsE AnD fAll Of CunEIfOrM sCrIPT In hITTITE AnATOlIA
the bud: in the time of Anitta the Assyrian network was already on the wane and when it came to its end.

it may also have been Aleppo or some other site in the Syrian area that formed the inspiration for the later typical Hittite variant of cuneiform. has yielded over 300 tablets. A variant of (Semitic) Akkadian was spoken there and a different kind of cuneiform writing than the Old Assyrian one was used for state business.1 below shows. 75%)
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. the new shapes even became the most popular: the newer variants appear on average in 75 percent of the cases. 4. Syrian scribes developed certain variant sign forms that were distinctly non-Babylonian. Here lay the powerful kingdom of Yamhad with its capital Aleppo. We also know he erected in Hattusa a gold statue — probably of himself — inscribed with his “manly deeds” over a period of five years. the archaeological level (Level VII) that Hattusili claims to have destroyed. With central Anatolia already in his power he focused his attention on northern Syria. Hattusili’s statement about his campaign and the proven use by him of the Syrian script and dialect supports the traditional view that it was he who re-introduced cuneiform in Anatolia. The statue has not been preserved but we do have a late copy of the text in both an Akkadian and a Hittite version. From Ikakali I went to (the city of) Tashiniya. Upon entering the world of international diplomacy. The entry for his second year runs as follows:
In the following year I went to (the city of) Alalakh and destroyed it.1.4). Thereafter I went to (the city of) Warsuwa. 25%) New Syrian Sign Forms (ca. but I took their goods and filled my palace with goods. and from Warsuwa I went to (the city of) Ikakali. I destroyed these lands. perhaps reserved for special occasions. Judging by the extant evidence. Alalakh is practically the only site where cuneiform tablets from this area and period have come to light and its script is very similar to the later Hittite one. Besides these we have in a late thirteenth century
table 4. cuneiform writing in the days of Hattusili I and Mursili I was a relatively rare phenomenon. As table 4. But it may not have been one campaign of a single king that achieved this. However. no. 2 i 15– 21)
It so happens that the site of Alalakh. (Güterbock and Otten 1960. We already saw Hattusili’s diplomatic correspondence with a local Syrian king and the propagandistic inscription on his own statue. that is. The Syrian cuneiform for which Alalakh is representative ultimately came from Babylon and shows the typical traits of a peripheral area that is no longer subject to the standardizing pressures of the center. Hattusili had to rely on foreign scribes if he wanted to correspond with his peers in Syria: a letter sent by him to a local Syrian ruler by the name of Tunip-tessub uses the local Syrian variant of Old Babylonian cuneiform and language and has come to down to us in almost pristine condition (fig. Comparison of Babylonian standard and syrian (Alalakh) less and most frequent sign forms
Sign Value
al az/uk ik li qa sar
Babylonian Standard
Alalakh Babylonian Standard Forms (ca. Not only Hattusili but also his grandson and immediate successor Mursili I extensively campaigned there.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
the beginnings of a hittite state
Less than a century later the political landscape of Anatolia had thoroughly changed. Around 1650 Hattusa had become the capital of the young Hittite state under Hattusili I. Likewise.

behind.5. pet. there was no problem: the same cuneiform signs could be used. Only gradually do they start experimenting to write in the local language and the transition can last one or more generations. the writing activity in the century between Hattusili and Mursili (ca. Some of the oldest texts in Hittite betray through uncommon and irregular spellings of words the struggle of early scribes to express the sounds of their mother tongue by means of the foreign script. only the letter to Tunip-tessub (in Akkadian) is a contemporary document. too. Bronze ax bearing a graffito of King Ammuna. Why do we see so much Akkadian in these early sources? Comparisons with societies that adopt scripts from others with a different language show that writing initially is done in the language of the other society. like the difference between (voiced) b and (voiceless) p in English bet vs. 16 iii 56–58)
This shows how he was already aware of the long-term use of script: by having his advice written down. for instance. appa “back. The difficulty of adapting a foreign script used to write a foreign language to one’s own is not to be underestimated. But where there were real differences. In it he instructed his entourage to obey and support his grandson Mursili and toward the end of the text he stipulated:
My words. creative solutions had to be found.” Using the Syrian cuneiform. for instance. sounded alike. Akkadian and Hittite. the inscription on the statue and the Testament we have only in late copies in both Akkadian and Hittite. pp in Hittite apa“that one” vs. is a t where the tongue is held against the upper teeth just a little longer before it is released than in a short one. on the other hand. distinguished between voiced and voiceless consonants. English does not have this. As said. Where the two languages. The inscription is in Akkadian using hittite sign forms. but spelled short consonants single and long ones double: compare p vs. scale of photograph 1:2
.” Despite its relatively modest volume. Hittite. Some rare instances of writing from their successors are also preserved in late copies only. ThE rIsE AnD fAll Of CunEIfOrM sCrIPT In hITTITE AnATOlIA
copy his so-called Testament in both Akkadian and Hittite. his words were sure to outlast him and his wisdom would be preserved for ever. One of the oldest contemporary documents from the days of Hattusili or Mursili written in the Syrian script and in the Akkadian language already contains a sentence in Hittite and a few isolated Hittite words inserted in the text. but one can hear such a long t in Italian otto “eight. Hittite scribes eventually decided to simply ignore the voiced/voiceless contrast that came with the script. A long t. did not: most probably it had within a word an opposition between so-called “short” and “long”
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consonants.4. no. This is due to the fact that the “imported” scribes usually are not versed in the language of their host society and teach the first local generation in their own language. Akkadian. 1650/1600 bc ) and king Telipinu (late sixteenth century) was enough to sustain a
figure 4. I have given you and let them read this [tabl]et out loud to you every month so that you will instill my [wor]ds and my wisdom in (your) heart! (Weber 1921.

5). but the law collection was in the Hittite language only. He issued an unprecedented range of official documents.6. although they may never have been given up completely. The slightly later reign of king Telipinu toward the end of the sixteenth century probably served as a real catalyst. a new “constitution” to a fiscal reform. most of these documents were still written in Akkadian. in the time when writing was still something special. a professional chancellery must have emerged and the growing number of records both produced in the capital and received from the far corners of what had become the Hittite “Empire” prompted an efficient organization of
104
those records.1) that we know from Alalakh became even more pronounced: the peripheral variants became the typical Hittite ones to the virtual extinction of the Babylonian forms. Tablets that got damaged were copied as were certain compositions of which more than one copy was deemed necessary. 4.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
development from the originally Syrian variant of the cuneiform script known from Alalakh to what eventually became the typical Hittite cuneiform variant. the first diplomatic treaty. But with the increasing production of records a system developed with a so-called record center atop the royal acropolis (Turkish Büyükkale) for all documents considered of longerterm importance. and at least two scribal centers in the lower city near some of the gates and the endless storerooms where all goods received were packed in chests and baskets or poured into huge pithoi and underground silos (fig. This development is understandable from the point of view of the new local generations. hattusa.
figure 4. Akkadian was restricted to international diplomatic documents and all internal record keeping was done in Hittite exclusively (fig. the local students were probably not keen to memorize more than one shape per sign. 4. scale 1:1. OIM A6004
from akkadian to hittite
After this.6). especially those of a legal nature. Others had a more long-term relevance and some. It is still in Akkadian but the inscription already shows the familiar Hittite sign forms. but having to learn already a few hundred cuneiform signs. fragment of a hittite tablet. It is very well possible that also the first codification of Hittite Laws into two series was written down at his behest. Their Syrian teachers brought in the mix of standard and newly developed forms. 4. A lot of tablets concerning daily administration of incoming and outgoing goods and services to the state were discarded regularly and after a brief period. The end of this development may already have been reached by around 1550 bc. The further development of the Hittite cuneiform scripts illustrates the vicissitudes of the empire that around 1400 had grown out of the former
. tablets may have been kept in temples and were stored alongside other “treasures” as was the practice in church treasuries in early medieval Western Europe. In this new Hittite script. from land grants. By this time. were stored indefinitely. Again. We have a graffito on a bronze ax of king Ammuna from that period (fig. Initially. Akkadian was used less and less and the fifteenth century was the last one to see internal records written in that language.7). the 75 percent to 25 percent ratio between the new peripheral Syrian variants vis-à-vis the traditional Old Babylonian shapes (see above table 4. too. By the time Tudhaliya I ascended the throne around 1420.

long-established scribal traditions. but the Hittite language’s dominant status did not necessarily match the linguistic make-up of the country. hearkening back to older. that is. Because of its huge mountain ranges and rugged terrain. The most important of these was Luwian. and therefore also festive or solemn. why. Over the centuries the parts of the population that spoke Luwian probably increased. prayers. Initially. The script used in the fifteenth century had evolved in relative isolation and had weeded out most “unnecessary” variants of the Syrian cuneiform it had adopted. But now that the empire had taken its rightful place alongside the other major powers of Egypt. cultic scenarios. Judged by the fact that. and the original old Babylonian standard shapes once again became fashionable (table 4. it became increasingly drawn into the international diplomatic world where the Babylonian language and script were the standard.4. Anatolia was riddled with isolated areas. “old” li was used in certain texts in a royal name only. What had once been the “new” forms from the peripheral Syrian scribal milieu now became the “old” forms in the Hittite system.
figure 4. when.2). sign values for “old” and “new” shapes in hittite cuneiform
Sign Value
al az/uk ik li qa sar
Hittite “Old” Shapes
Hittite “New” Shapes
conclusions
Coming back to the questions posed at the beginning. ThE rIsE AnD fAll Of CunEIfOrM sCrIPT In hITTITE AnATOlIA
By the late thirteenth century toward the end of the empire the “new” shapes all but eclipsed the “old” ones.
the end
The Hittite language and the cuneiform script were the official medium of the empire’s internal record keeping. Hittite kings employed the hieroglyphic script and Luwian language for ever lengthier and mostly propagandistic inscriptions meant for the population at large. to the extent that by the thirteenth century most of the population spoke Luwian and Hittite may no longer even have been anybody’s mother tongue.
table 4. oracle reports. shows how they could be felt as old fashioned. a sister language of Hittite. and how a society starts to write. each with its own dialect or language. however. Meanwhile. we can say that the rise of the Hittite cuneiform script depended on the need the ruling class perceived and on the availability of a script. there was little internal administrative need
105
. storage pithoi at hattusa near Temple 1
kingdom. and Mittani. for instance. the scribes in the empire’s offices continued to compose annals. and the like in Hittite and cuneiform. Assyria.7. This meant. the support for both the Hittite language and its cuneiform script fell away and they disappeared without a trace. that once the empire’s power structure broke down around 1200.2. Babylon. Anatolian Hieroglyphs had reached the full status of a script by 1400 bc and they became the preferred medium for the Luwian language. at least. It may have been through these increased contacts that the standard Babylonian forms gained new prominence in Hittite society. depositions.

see Frangipane 2007. the bottom fell out from under the system that had supported the Hittite language with its cuneiform script: with the language the cuneiform script vanished for ever from Anatolia. It was the need that came with a state that grew too big for purely oral communication and for its eagerness for international prestige that compelled them to adopt a script of their own.
106
. Even though some Anatolians mastered both their language and the script. ***** For the symbols used at Arslantepe. when the Assyrians left. For further reading. see Bryce 2002 and 2005. In keeping with other societies the Hittites started writing in the language that came with the script they adopted and only gradually started experimenting with their own language. For a period of about two centuries they lived in close proximity and daily interaction with the Assyrian merchants who used writing intensively. About a century later. The Assyrian writing system. see van den Hout forthcoming. The use of the Akkadian language was restricted to diplomatic purposes. However. The consequence of this was that when around 1200 bc the state disintegrated. nothing happened. was not adopted. The cuneiform
script and the Hittite language had become the official medium for all internal and external communication of the Hittite state and its ruling elite. despite its relative simplicity.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
and their “choice” of a script was not motivated by efficiency or pedagogical principles. around 1650 bc. The fall of the Hittite cuneiform script was a question of political sustainability. For an extended version of the history of Hittite cuneiform. the Hittites settled for the much more complex Syrian variant of cuneiform. due to political developments the linguistic make-up of Anatolia changed and Hittite became an increasingly artificial language that ultimately was nobody’s mother tongue.

Divided into twelve sections or paragraphs by horizontal lines. 20) the scribe sometimes uses the right edge to finish the last word of a line. 63
OBjECT dESCripTiON: CATALOg NO. The text dates to the thirteenth century bc. reverse
63. obverse
63. In obverse line 14. each paragraph lists the specific
107
payments of a single person.0 x 3. The last line of each paragraph gives the name of the taxpayer preceded by the vertical wedge marking male names. he squeezes in an entire extra tax item and ends up writing on the reverse. hattusa 11. 63
20
14 13
13 14
17
20
63.2 cm nBC 3842
This tablet contains a list of tax payments by twelve individuals to the Hittite state. however.0 x 7. although already on the right edge. On the obverse (compare lines 13–14. ThE rIsE AnD fAll Of CunEIfOrM sCrIPT In hITTITE AnATOlIA OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOn: CATAlOG nO. All payments are made in dyed wool and ready-made textiles. Since elsewhere in the text (compare
.4. It is unclear whether he was reluctant to devote a whole extra line to this one payment before the name of the tax payer or if he had forgotten it initially and was forced to add it afterwards. Sometimes the name is followed by a city name for further identification.
hittite inventory of wool and woolen garmentS
Clay Thirteenth century bc Turkey.

the latter may be the case. 63 vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Obverse
63.
63. top
13 14
obverse line 17.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOn: CATAlOG nO. The final paragraph gives the total of all payments listed on the tablet and continues on to the lower edge of the reverse. reverse line 13) he does give the last tax item its own line. tvdh
published
Beckman and Hoffner 1985. Finkelstein 1956. side
108
.

who are the father of letters. in Egypt.5.. since they are not wise. written ca. 5. macarthur
E
choing the sentiments of many scholars regarding the origins of Egyptian hieroglyphs. for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things. in particular. and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom. These difficulties are due to the fact that texts from the developing Egyptian writing system were (from the point of view of the modern scholar) essentially incomplete. now the king of all Egypt at that time was the god Amun. but of reminding. Egyptologists are still searching the sands for clues about the earliest Egyptian writing. when they are for the most part ignorant and hard to get along with. Although much is known about early Egyptians. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM
5. produced by external characters which are no part of themselves. Phaedrus 274c–275b. one man has the ability to beget arts. because they will not practice their memory. will discourage the use of their own memory within them. 172). not true wisdom. which would set the stage for the emergence of writing at the end of the Predynastic period (fig. also draughts and dice.” said Thoth. which the Greeks call the Egyptian Thebes. letters. have been led by your affection to ascribe to them a power the opposite of that which they really possess. who lived in the great city of the upper region. the intended. The story goes that Amun said many things to Thoth in praise or blame of the various arts. the one whose sacred bird is called the ibis. with the onset of the Naqada period of Egyptian history. but the ability to judge of their usefulness or harmfulness to their users belongs to another. Baines 2004. Early Egyptian writing. most important of all. millennia later. Such sentiments have a long history. but only appear wise. Indeed. p. the moment of conception of the Egyptian writing system is inaccessible (e. and. expressed praise or blame. he it was who invented numbers and arithmetic and geometry and astronomy. 370 bc
115
. as even Egyptian mythological tradition maintains only that the god Thoth invented hieroglyphic writing (Watterson 1984. But Amun asked what use there was in each. and they call the god himself Amun. very little is known about the origins of their written language. has been
especially problematic for scholars. O king. and now you.1). 180. but when they came to the letters. It is in
egyptian myth of the creation of writing
socrates: I heard.” — Plato. and the name of the god himself was Thoth. ThE CONCEpTiON ANd dEVELOpMENT OF ThE EgypTiAN wriTiNg SySTEM
eliSe v. for this invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it. according as he approved or disapproved.g. ancient reader knew the greater context and could thus understand the information being communicated. Writing is defined as a conventionalized system of visual communication representing language. an iconographic revolution began to take place. saying that they ought to be imparted to the other Egyptians. “will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memories.
precursors to writing
Beginning in the fourth millennium bc . then. that at naucratis.” But Amun replied. see text box below). “Most ingenious Thoth. Their trust in writing. To him came Thoth to show his inventions. was one of the ancient gods of that country. you have invented an elixir not of memory. for it is an elixir of memory and wisdom that I have discovered. “This invention. which it would take too long to repeat. p. and as Thoth enumerated their uses.

the Theban Desert Road). Their composition is seemingly narrative. but their meaning is difficult to ascertain. animals. This inscription is composed of an abbreviated version of King Narmer’s name (only the nar-catfish
116
is written. in the Eastern Desert (fig. 3750–3500 bc ) . They are located in the Eastern Desert along principle routes to the Red Sea (e. and humanoid figures with feathers (fig. Among the more popular motifs displayed are boats. the mr-chisel has been left out)1 within a serekh. but the most salient early examples date to the Naqada I period (ca. surmounted by a falcon) of King Narmer (before ca. and constitutes the only definite example of writing from this corpus at such an early date in Egyptian history. and in the Western Desert along important land routes (e. Chronological development of early writing in Egypt
these precursors that many scholars have sought the origins of Egyptian writing: pot marks.1. 3150 bc) at the site of Wadi el-Qash.3). In general.2). sealings: Naqada II onward
Tomb u-j Tags: Naqada III
Incised pottery: Dynasty 0
funerary stelae: Dynasty 1
figure 5. There are rare examples of rock art of the late Predynastic period that can be interpreted.
. the Wadi Hammamat). and decorated ceremonial objects.g.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
EgypTiAn prEdynAsTiC pEriod
3500 bc 3200 bc 3320 bc 3750 bc
naqada I
naqada II
naqada III
Dynasty 0
3150 bc
Dynasty 1
rock drawings
Pot marks
D-ware pottery: Naqada II
seals. Example of early rock art in the region
of Aswan. now in the nubian Museum. The 1936–1938 expeditions of Hans Winkler yielded a serekh (a rectangular enclosure with the king’s Horus name and a niched facade.. during the Predynastic period the distinction between purely pictorial rock drawings and hieroglyphic writing is ver y hard to make. Rock drawings constitute the earliest of the precursors to writing in Egypt. 5. Drawings date from the earliest habitation of the Nile valley to the Islamic period. decorated pottery. cylinder seals.g. 5..2. Although the motifs foreshadow those of
figure 5. rock drawings.

p. rock art with the serekh of King narmer. C-Ware was an innovation of the Naqada I period. 3200–3150 bc) and the subsequent First Dynasty (ca. The images depicted on these vessels — animals. their function is still a matter of great debate. the accompanying signs can be translated. Although they probably denote a pottery workshop — just as insignia on modern pottery represent specific name brands — like rock drawings and decorated vessels. 5. 18. their repertoire of images is similar to that of later hieroglyphs. 3150 bc). these images do not represent known words and cannot be considered writing. and was replaced by D-Ware during the Naqada II period (ca. 3150–2890 bc ) some pot marks occur in conjunction with serekhs (Catalog No. and Gautier 1988. Although. during Dynasty 0 (ca. In contrast to Mesopotamia. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM
figure 5. and landscapes — seem to evoke greater narrative contexts. as they do not match neatly with many later-known hieroglyphic signs. Instead.3. From their
117
first appearance through the end of the Predynastic period (ca. which are reminiscent of rock drawings. naqada II period.7 x 11. 3500–3320 bc. p.4). aside from the example at Wadi el-Qash there are no clear attempts at writing during the Predynastic period presently known to scholars. 73). there are about two thousand known pot marks. corresponding hieroglyphic signs. 64–67). They are attested in Egypt as early as the Neolithic period (ca. 95). remain frustratingly ambiguous. impressions made by
figure 5.3 cm
subsequent periods of Egyptian history. 3150 bc. 4800–4400 bc) (Hassan 1985. The assemblage of Predynastic potter y — C-Ware (White Crossed-Lined) and D-Ware (Decorated) pottery — is particularly renowned because of its captivating designs. 67). the messages of which are not entirely clear to the modern observer (fig. 65). 2 Egyptian cylinder seals are rare within the Predynastic archaeological record: only about eighteen are documented (Catalog No.4. Although these incisions are systematically applied to specific types of pottery vessels. The geographic distribution of D-Ware was quite widespread: examples have been found throughout Egypt as well as in Nubia and the southern Levant. Additionally. there is no clear evolutionary relationship between certain pot marks and later. p. called “domains” (Catalog No. 3500–3320 bc ) (Hawass. D-ware vessel. Although the pot marks still cannot be securely read. However. like rock drawings. Pot marks represent a more perplexing class of objects than rock drawings and decorated pottery. before ca. OIM 10758
. Pot marks are defined as incised signs or marks on the exterior of a vessel (van den Brink 1992. most resulting from Petrie’s excavations at Abydos (Catalog Nos.5.
ca. boats. Hassan. Dynasty 0. these spectacular scenes. despite the fact that some of the signs that occur were later incorporated into the hieroglyphic system. 38). Rather. pot marks do not contain discernible words and cannot be reliably translated. and even royal economic institutions for the production of goods. humanoid figures. carved into living rock. Chronologically. 265).

and the supplementary scenes are carved into the palette in raised or sunken relief. Ceremonial palettes first appear during the Naqada I period in zoomorphic form. plaques. and were often elaborately decorated. other decorated ceremonial objects. (Dynasty 0. 3320–3200 bc). this class of objects demonstrates the intimate connection that existed in Egypt between image and text. Like palettes. or the royal marriage of King Narmer to Neith-hetep (more correctly read “Hetep-Neith”). including knife handles.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
cylinder seals (the majority of which were not recovered) in mud and clay — called “sealings” — are far better represented (Catalog Nos. impressions of which were also recovered from this tomb. the shape of the palette seamlessly complements its accompanying relief. such as those that appear on the Metropolitan Museum Palette. another salient example of decorated ceremonial objects. itself a narrative composition. Beginning in Dynasty 0 — specifically with the reign of King Iry-Hor (ca. recovered along with the Narmer Palette from the Main Deposit at Hierakonpolis (all three examples date to Dynasty 0. to unidentifiable serekhs. the necropolis of the Predynastic and Early Dynastic kings at the site of Abydos in Upper Egypt. the palette shape is simplified. Two wellknown examples are the Scorpion and Narmer mace-heads.5). and finally to captioned scenes as on the Narmer Palette. however. Thus. Large. Finally. they were replaced by pear-shaped mace-heads. can be read as no more than “King Narmer.” or “t≤ ( |)t(y). The texts upon these objects. In the Naqada II period. from the reign of King Narmer. They are first attested in the Naqada II period and have been found as far from Egypt as the southern Levant and Nubia. On the mace-heads of King Scorpion and King Narmer. and combs also bear recognizable hieroglyphs. Both mace-heads are adorned with both pictorial scenes and hieroglyphic texts. fig. In the subsequent Naqada II period. Ceremonial objects have been the focus of much debate since their discovery at the turn of the twentieth century. more ceremonial scale than their functional counterparts. are first attested in the Naqada I period as disk-shaped objects. Cosmetic palettes are quite common within the funerary assemblages of the Predynastic period. mace-heads were also reproduced on a larger. This narrative is sometimes more explicit: certain Naqada III palettes bear writing that ranges in complexity from suspiciously recognizable signs. however. is contemporaneous with the use of cylinder seals. from Tomb U-j at Abydos (see below) and dating to around 3320 bc. The first evidence of writing in Egypt. Cylinder seals were used in administrative contexts. indecipherable signs appear on seals into the First Dynasty (Catalog No. which continued to be a characteristic of Egyptian writing throughout ancient Egyptian history. the hieroglyphic signs functioned as captions of the greater scenes depicted on these objects. where he is believed to have dug in the vicinity of the burial
. 3200–3150 bc). ca.” for example. with scenes of men and animals roughly incised on the palettes’ surface. 3150 bc. and many of their impressions were found with trade items. but only a few of these closely resemble later hieroglyphic signs. Early. to speech writing on the town names on the Bull and Towns
118
palettes. Umm el-Qa’ab (Arabic for “Mother of Pots”) had previously been explored in 1896 by Émile Amélineau. seals and sealings bear motifs that are known from the other classes of objects mentioned above. Decorated ceremonial objects are also important because they can be used to explore the relationship between image and text in the nascent stages of both mediums. as on the standards on the Hunters. 74–77). 5. more functional forms. Battlefield. as well as on the Narmer Palette. ceremonial palettes evolved from earlier. Some of the best examples of early Egyptian inscriptions appear on decorated cosmetic palettes and mace-heads.
the earliest egyptian writing
The earliest-known Egyptian writing was discovered in Tomb U-j of Umm el-Qa’ab. Many dramatic interpretations have been offered: the scenes have been interpreted as historical documents recording the unification of Egypt. in the Naqada III period (ca. and Bull palettes. Mace-heads. 3200 bc ) — the signs that appear on sealings can be translated with some certainty (Catalog No. before ca. 75). By the end of the Predynastic period. 74). In their earliest forms.3 who was buried in the elite cemetery at Naqada.

6). ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM
figure 5. 68). horizontal and vertical strokes). Scholars divide the signs represented on these vessels into two groups: “main signs” (e.. The narmer Palette.
119
. M. with a central room surrounded by connecting chambers. Among the spectacular objects recovered from the tomb were an ivory scep-
ter. which dates to around ca. Some scholars hypothesize that the tomb was modeled after a Predynastic palace. Flinders Petrie began excavations at Abydos. reeds. W. Dynasty 0. before ca. 5. and tags. scorpions. OIM C209
chamber of Tomb U-j. where he discovered and published several tags and labels from the area immediately surrounding the tomb (Catalog No. sealings. mud-plastered walls. fish. Red Sea shells. however. 3150 bc. acacia wood beams. Thereafter. and Pumpenmeier 1998. 14). in the form of ink-inscribed vessels.5. no palaces of this date have survived. Since the 1970s. 125 ink inscriptions were preserved. believed to belong to some 800 vessels.g. mudbrick tomb with twelve interconnected chambers. 3320 bc. p. reign of King narmer. Tomb U-j. In several chambers of the tomb. Hartung.4 is a rectangular. and an obsidian blade. and ships) and “secondary signs” (e. and mat roofing (fig. excavators found Egyptian pottery sherds. The size of the tomb. and the amount of labor its construction and assemblage would have required has led many scholars to propose that this tomb belonged to a proto-ruler who reigned over a sizable territory by the Naqada III period. Günter Dreyer of the German Archaeological Institute has re-excavated the site with new and very important results (Dreyer. its contents.5. On some of these vessels. fragments of a shell cosmetic container. falcons.. recto and verso. trees.g. Tomb U-j is best known for three distinctive forms of administrative record keeping.

believed to indicate lengths of cloth (Catalog No. 76. some 700 imported vessels were discovered. A majority of the tags have representations of people and animals of various sorts. Tomb u-j at umm el-Qa’ab. distinct from those with Egyptian ceramics.6. most were made of bone or ivory (only a few of stone) incised with signs and perforated. which is important in identifying the nature of early graphic material:6 1) Logograms: symbols representing specific words 2) Phonograms: symbols representing specific sounds 3) Determinatives: symbols used for classifying words Moreover.5 The vessels were covered with cloth or leather. and Pumpenmeier 1998. or have not survived to modern times. This sign combination demonstrates compelling parallels to later attestations. writing on the tags shows that the Egyptian writing system had adopted the rebus principle. a city or village.
.” but rather the city Elephantine (|bw). bound with string. p. and localities in Egypt and beyond. Hartung. they are believed to have derived from the southern Levant and to have contained resinated wine infused with figs. Linguistic terminology makes it possible to identify the various units of language that helped to transform communication
120
in early Egypt from merely pictorial expression to speech writing. no. Of the nearly 200 tags recovered. The final group of administrative record keeping found in Tomb U-j was tags. signifying that the sign combination is a place name. probably denotes quantities of goods.t). Using the rebus principle. Excavators recovered cedar boxes with bolts of cloth and ivory games. 55). About 250 sealing fragments were also recovered. The Egyptian writing system had already undergone a number of important developments by the time of Tomb U-j. fig. in particular the tags. several tags from Tomb U-j bear the image of an elephant |bw. The written evidence from Tomb U-j.7 As ˘ demonstrated in table 5. which broadened the meaning of symbols to include their homophones — words with the same sound but different definitions. 68). 119. which have not yet been recovered. about a quarter of the tags have numbers on them. It is believed that the tags were originally attached to these commodities. the determinative qualifies the logogram. For example. upon which cylinder seals were rolled.1. for example. and sealed with Egyptian clay. The sealings all bear a central design embedded in a frame with geometric patterns. Although they are the topic of some debate. Elephantine (after on top of a mountain: Dreyer.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Tomb u-j
figure 5. Abydos
In other chambers of the tomb. the place indicated by the signs is not “Elephant (|bw) + Mountain/Highlands/Mound ( h|s.

. Thus. p. The first definite example of a conjugated verb dates to the reign of King Peribsen (before ca. h tp-h≤ n m. as well as more recent studies of Early Egyptian (Kahl 1994. especially decorated ceremonial objects. they will be used alongside the favored. the inscriptions on these Early Dynastic objects can be translated with some certainty. 31–33. pp. p. 7 Although Dreyer originally read these signs as |bd≤w (Abydos). 8 Although some scholars believe that such names are important because they seem to be composed of grammatical features such as modified verbs. p. pp. before ca. the potential contribution of Predynastic and Early Dynastic personal names has not yet been fully explored. 56–58. 5 There has been some debate about the origins of these vessels. stringing together nouns in short phrases. “may Chnum be satisfied. however. they have since been correctly re-read as |bw (Elephantine) by scholars such as: Kahl 2001. however. 3150 bc). In the Early Dynastic period. p. 387. pp. see Boehmer. Regardless. 9 Kahl (1994.g. McGovern (2001.. and reads d (m)d≤. p. 84) convincingly rejects Kaplony’s (1963. when the hieroglyphic repertoire is more or less complete.8 The Egyptian writing system appears to be well developed by the reign of Den (ca. see Senner 1989. pp. the use of the script at this early stage of Egyptian history was intricately tied to the burgeoning state. 116–24. The dating of Tomb U-j is determined using calibrated radiocarbon dating. 461 [E26])
œ
9
(after Gardiner 1957. For instance. 71–72) which bear the names and titles of kings. 69–70). 5. 63–68.g.n–f (he has united). royal and elite status markings). idem 2001). royal family members. p. and Kuhlmann 2008.” and “income. These dates.g.” Other objects. 3150–2868 bc ) (Shaw 2000. 252–70) argue that they were manufactured in Egypt. published by Schott (1969.” a personal name dating to the reign of King Narmer. 107–16) suggests that the inked vessels were imported from the southern Levant and processed in the Nile delta.w . pp. Breyer 2002. Elephantine (after Kahl 2002. has demonstrated a much stronger case for a southern Levantine origin for these vessels.n–f (he has compiled/interpreted) in favor of d(m)d≤. so although it is spelled Nit-h˘tp. 481) often makes references to “provisions. McGovern. slightly later textual material provides compelling evidence for grammar and may even demonstrate the first uses in Egypt of modified verb forms (e.” “taxes. relative dates (e. 3500–3300 bc ). 81. p. 2868– 2160 bc) (Shaw 2000. functioning in administrative and ideological capacities (e. 482). Although the earliest inscriptions seem to function as captions of larger images and scenes.5. 6 For the phases in the development of writing. however. 5) and has been re-read here by EVM. 76–77). 118. while Porat and Goren (2002. Using certain components of Old Egyptian grammar (derived from inscriptions of the Old Kingdom. fig. p. see Honoré 2007. it should be read h˘tp-Nit. Egyptian hieroglyphs are used on a variety of media: labels (Catalog Nos. This phenomenon is referred to as “honorific transposition. 102). 395) reading of dd≤. that most literature refers to this individual as Neith-hetep.n–f. pp. 66–67). Dreyer. 3 The name of the god or goddess is usually moved forward in personal names. 78–79).
121
. and other miscellaneous objects (Catalog Nos. as well as commodities with which some of these objects were associated.” Note. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM
table 5. p. or Kahl 2001. pot marks (Catalog Nos. Example of the rebus principle from Tomb u-j Logogram + Determinative = Place Name
|bw (after Gardiner 1957. 488 [n25])
|bw. Naqada periods) to provide a rough date with which scholars outside of Egyptology can work. express the power of the ruler through his close relationship with certain gods. 2686 bc ) — a past tense use of the verb. 112. As a result. p. many others note that the inflection is not represented and thus the grammatical value of this inscription is limited. Jiménez-Serrano 2004.
egyptian writing: from tomb u-j to the early dynastic period
Over five hundred inscriptions from Tomb U-j date from around 3320 bc to the end of the Predynastic period at around 3150 bc (Kahl 2001. have been called into question (Hendrickx 2006.
notes
1 For more information on the various ways that King Narmer’s name was written. see Kahl 2001. various funerary objects (Catalog Nos. pp. The inscription mentioned in the text appears on the underside of a baboon statuette.. 1)
and private individuals.9 Inscriptional evidence from the late Predynastic period (and even into the Early Dynastic period. and Kromer 1993. 4 The findings at Tomb U-j are summarized in two volumes: Dreyer 1998 and Hartung 2001. 91).1. sealings (Catalog Nos. 2 Cylinder seals are attested first in Mesopotamia in the midfourth millennium bc and enter the Egyptian archaeological record thereafter (ca. p. 3110–3020 bc).

typical of the Naqada I period. It was found by Petrie at the site of Naqada in Tomb T 1426. which closely resembles the number “ten. 1895 23. evm
published (selected)
Petrie and Quibell 1896.” This inverted U-shaped sign is very common among Naqada I pottery.0 cm OIM E1814
64
This vessel is an example of black-topped red ware. 3750–3500 bc Egypt. some of which have pot marks. Seven of these vessels bear a similar mark.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. Many other black-topped red ware vessels were also recovered from this tomb. 55. ca. naqada. it cannot be securely translated. Cemetery T. and
122
although such pot marks are considered to be among the precursors to writing.
. veSSel with pot mark Ceramic naqada I. Tomb 1426 Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. 64–79
64. The pot mark on this vessel was incised into the baked clay with a sharp point (perhaps a flint blade).4 x 11.387. pp. 43–44. pl.

Abydos. p.
Sherd with pot markS
Ceramic Dynasty 0. 3200 bc Egypt. 347. Although by the reign of king Den the hieroglyphic repertoire was well established. Grave T = Tomb of Den Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. is easily identifiable. p. 233. 51. Although the sign cannot be securely translated. p.37.
This sherd was broken from a larger vessel. Tomb B7 = Tomb of Ka Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. evm
published (selected)
Petrie 1900. The incised pot marks resemble the nt≤r -sign (“god”) and the phonetic sign h. The sign next to the serekh is a pot mark. his name written with outstretched human arms. Spencer 1980. bears incised signs made in the moist clay before the vessel was baked. fig.2 x 1.1 cm OIM E5883
Ceramic Dynasty 1. ca.
Sherd with pot markS
66.2 cm OIM E5882
This sherd. The serekh of King Ka. no. The pot marks were incised upon the moist clay before the vessel was baked. 64–79
65
66
65. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. pot marks such as these remain enigmatic. This sign combination is attested ˘ at least six other times on vessels from the same tomb. p. Abydos. Weill 1961a. 4. 3110–3020 bc Egypt. ca. 29. it is attested at the royal cemetery of Abydos well into the First Dynasty.4 x 27. 50. 1. a fragment of a vessel with pink fabric and a pale cream slip. 1902 17. umm el-Qa’ab. 27. no. 123
. pl. pl. 290.5 x 10. umm el-Qa’ab. evm
published (selected)
Midant-Reynes 2000. connecting these specific markings with the tomb of Den — perhaps denoting a particular workshop that supplied vessels for the king’s interment. pl.491. reign of Den. reign of Ka.5 x 1. Petrie 1902. fig. 22 and 44. 15.5. 1902 9. p. 3.

2 cm OIM E5899
67
This sherd was once part of a larger vessel. This royal economic domain. 1902 7. still functioning at the time of Qa’a’s death. Tomb Q = Tomb of Qa’a Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund.103.9 x 13. perhaps because it was supplying the contents of such vessels. 2890 bc Egypt.
. 29–30. The signs include a serekh belonging to king Semerkhet. occurs on many vessels throughout the royal cemetery at Abydos. 46. Abydos. The frame around the serekh denotes an economic domain (an institution for the production of goods). evm
124
published (selected)
Petrie 1900. umm el-Qa’ab.7 x 1. 64–79 67. It bears incised marks made in the clay while it was still moist. though the top sign resembles the k| or shn open-armed ˘ hieroglyphs. before to ca. who was succeeded to the throne by Qa’a. pl. in whose tomb the sherd was found.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. Sherd with pot markS
Ceramic Dynasty 1. reign of Qa’a. The other signs are pot marks and cannot be securely translated. pp.

however. pl. 82.” among the earliest definite example of numbers. More recently. evm
published (selected)
Dreyer. 3150 bc). Dreyer has demonstrated that the tag probably derived from Tomb U-j (ca. Petrie attributed this object. numerical tag
Ivory naqada III. 20. p. umm el-Qa’ab Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. ca. 1902 h: 1. and other tags he recovered. X180. to the reign of Aha (ca.5. square-shaped tag made of ivory. 134. with six incised marks and a small hole drilled into the upper right corner. 64–79 68. to which the tags had been attached. Hartung.
125
. the first king of the First Dynasty. was found by Petrie during his excavations at the turn of the nineteenth century. 35. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 3. Abydos. because he found them in the vicinity of tombs dating to this time period. and Pumpenmeier 1998. fig. probably indicated a quantity of linen. p.2 x w: 1. pl. 3320 bc). The number “six. no. Petrie 1901.2 cm OIM E5932
68
This small. which was stored in cedar boxes. based on striking parallels
he discovered in this tomb.2 x T: 0.14. 3320 bc Egypt.

303–04. titles. pp. umm el-Qa’ab.3 x 0. 6. pl.
126
The inscription consists of the serekh of the King Djer (on the right) and the name of an economic domain (or. They represent either a title and a personal name. The label was perforating the upper right corner. inscribed in red and black ink. The earlier ones bore numbers and place names. 237–38. 12. 64–79
69
69. pp. after ca. It is darkened. perhaps by oil or smoke. reign of Djer.5 x 6. pp. This object demonstrates how the use of tags and labels changed from Tomb U-j to the First Dynasty.
. Vikentiev 1953–1954. Petrie recovered this wooden label. ink Dynasty 1. 28–29.6 cm OIM E6095
At the turn of the nineteenth century. fig. and economic information.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.3. Abydos. probably an administrator of the aforementioned economic domain.t) “k≥d-h≥tp” (on the left). or simply a personal name (sd≤shm-k| or swd≤-k|). pp. Petrie 1901. 634–36. The other hieroglyphic signs (in the center of the label) have been the focus of much scholarly debate. while the later ones have kings’ names. h≥w. Tomb O = Tomb of Djer Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. Kaplony 1963a. 169. 1902 2. evm
published (selected)
Helck 1987.
label
wood. who was buried at Saqqara in Tomb S3504. The individual named on this ˘ label is known to be a high official. 3150 bc Egypt.

p. 27. p. no. right to left Left K˘ª h≥w. pl.” which recorded special ceremonies or occurrences during a specific year of a king’s reign.t p-h≥r-msn h≥w. ca. The tag was once square shaped and probably had a hole perforating the upper right corner. Legge 1907. Petrie 1902. 8. 125. which at this point in time record more complex information. the economic domains. no. evm
127
published (selected)
Dreyer 1996 et al. 312. p. 134. 57.1–2. fig. umm el-Qa’ab. fig. Qa’a a.ty(?) m|| md≤ h. The obverse has three registers. 847B. 102. pl. 1195. pl. 2. p. 145. or “Two Ladies.t bity ̆ … acacia wood by the two carpenters of the King of Lower Egypt ( = name of the year) Nebty(?). fig. 15. 64–79 70. Newberry 1912.t it Middle Right
Sn-nb.
.3 x 0. pl.h≥ |. the type of oil (the fighter scent). ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 1902 2. The text is an “annals inscription. fig. Abydos. and the quality of the oil (fine) Qa’a.wy st≤i-aha tpy. 2890 bc Egypt. 74. p. Petrie 1901.. reverse
obverse
text is read top to bottom. 285.2. p. 26. 11. double-sided ivory tag was found by Petrie’s workmen in the loose rubbish heap that had been removed from the tombs. Weill 1961b.5. Weill 1961a. 249. p.w |pd. of p-h≥r-msn and it …
reverse
mrh≥. It further demonstrates the evolving use of tags and labels. the reverse further distinguishes the product to which this tag was once attached. Kahl 1994. p. 7. obverse
70. pl.11. 101.5 x 2. p. reign of Qa’a. 9.3 cm OIM E6192
70. fig.” name of Qa’a. 298–301. tag Ivory Dynasty 1. pp. rubbish heap Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. Kaplony 1963c. c. p. Kaplony 1963b. 32. Kaplony 1963a. 847B.w the source of oil (bird fat)
This weathered.

pl. Petrie 1901. Neith was a popular component of First Dynasty female names. p. after ca.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 11. a Hetep-Neith buried at Naqada is believed to be the queen of Narmer and the mother of Aha. Moreover. cylindrical veSSel
Ivory Dynasty 1. However. 64–79 71. subsidiary grave no. 2 Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. is well attested in the royal cemetery of Abydos. evm
128
published (selected)
Kaplony 1963a.6 cm OIM E5954
71
This miniature.2 = Tomb of Djer.. those pertaining to the name of a god or goddess) are important because they seem to be composed of grammatical features such as modified verbs. cylindrical vessel. others note that inflection is not represented (as is the case with this object). Abydos. especially royal family members (e. often erroneously translated Neith-hotep. and thus. 3150 bc Egypt. no. reign of Djer.
. 589. p.12. 2.4 x 3. the potential contribution of such person names to the study of early Egyptian writing still needs to be explored. that the grammatical value of such an inscription is limited. umm el-Qa’ab. the mother of Den). which imitates larger examples with a wavy band below its lip. was found in one of the subsidiary tombs surrounding the tomb of Djer. Although some scholars believe that such names (i.. 1902 5.g. It is made of ivory and bears the name of h˘tp-Nit (“May Neith be satisfied”). The name Hetep-Neith. 20. Indeed.e. MerytNeith. Tomb O.

9 and 13. evm
Right: h≥r y-nt≤r. 1902 3.6 x 0. p. The inscription is composed of three components (right to left):
Left: h rp h≥m(. The inlay has grooves and holes on the back to join it with a side of the box.5. as a further medium for inscriptions. Vandier 1952. 119. inlay for Small coSmetic box
Ivory Dynasty 1.1 x 3. ca. and demonstrates the utility of writing beyond seals.2. Weill 1961a. Tomb Z = Tomb of Djet Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. 10. 21. umm el-Qa’ab. 3100 bc Egypt. p. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. Abydos. 40. Petrie found the inlay already badly damaged in the tomb of Djet.
Middle: D¯t (W|d≤j)
Djet (king’s name. 64–79 72. no.6 cm OIM E6105
72
This piece of an ivory box was incised. and labels. 850. pl. reign of Djet. in serekh)
129
. pottery. fig. pp. and the signs filled with black and red paste. 567. 2.w) dw| ˘ chief of the servant(s) of royal beard
This object was certainly a personal possession.w
Hery-netcheru (personal name)
published (selected)
Petrie 1900.

The signs between the ram and the Neith emblem are probably just decorative. The cylinder is perforated through the center. 3. 1920 1. thus precluding a secure translation. ca.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 714. the early emblem of the goddess Neith ( ). pl. from right to left. such as this object.5 x 1. vol. 1181.w). Although cylinder seal impressions. belonging to a private individual. and. fig. called “sealings” are commonly recovered from late Predynastic and Early Dynastic excavations. or “follower(s).” sign. resemble the sms(. evm
130
published (selected)
Kaplony 1963b.
. cylinder seals themselves. 119. 714. modern impression
This object is a gray stone cylinder seal. are far more rare. 3150–2890 bc Provenance unknown Purchased in Cairo.3 cm OIM E10592
73
73. to the extreme left. fig. pp. Kaplony 1963. cylinder Seal
stone Dynasty 1. The signs. 64–79 73. a ram (possibly representing the god Chnum).

Weill 1961b. Petrie 1901. 13.8 cm OIM E6718
74
Multiple impressions made by this cylinder seal have been recovered at the royal cemetery of Abydos. no. no. Sealing
Clay Dynasty 0. Spencer 1980. This particular sealing was found in the vicinity of tombs B.9 (Ka) and B. Kaplony 1963c. fig. Cemetery B Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. 457. 115. pl. umm el-Qa’ab. The name is repeated over and over again.
. Kaplony 1963b.0 x 3.4 x 11. 26A. 27. no.5. p. the last ruler of Dynasty 0. the catfish (the nªr-sign) appears in the serekh and the triangular mr-chisel lies below.91. 51. King Narmer’s name has been written in different ways (e. p. It bears the name of Narmer. who was succeeded by Aha. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. 360.g. a. 30. 9. the first king of the First Dynasty.17 (Narmer). fig. 1094.. Scharff 1929. before ca. Kaplony 1963a. pp. 71a. 53. Abydos. 64–79 74. 26A. evm
131
published (selected)
Hall 1913. reign of narmer. sometimes. only the nar-sign is used) and thus demonstrates that scribes were still experimenting with different layouts of hieroglyphic signs at this early period of Egyptian history. 182. 2750. p. pl. p. 286. fig. p. p. On the sealing. 60. 3150 bc Egypt. 1902 11. fig. pl.

3 cm OIM E5865
78
Petrie recovered numerous funerary stelae surrounding the graves of Djer and other kings of the First Dynasty at Abydos. like many others Petrie found.
funerary Stela
limestone Dynasty 1. after ca. 26. p. Like Hetep-Neith. Tomb O = Tomb of Djer Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. evm
published (selected)
Kaplony 1963a. this personal name can contribute
135
greatly to our understanding of early Egyptian writing. 26. 586.86.9 x 22. In contrast. 32–33. 3150 bc Egypt. 29b. 86. as it is composed of a modified verb form. This particular funerary stela has a triliteral sign (h≥tp) and the determinative of a seated woman. 28. 1902 38. reign of Djer.5.t). 7.86. ThE COnCEPTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE EGyPTIAn wrITInG sysTEM OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. whose name was h≥tp(. fig. pp.0 x 10.
. Abydos. umm el-Qa’ab. The stela. pp. no. Hetepet. Klasens 1956. is badly weathered. those found among the tomb of Djet bear names and titles. The stelae from the subsidiary tombs around Djer bear the names of the individuals interred there. pls. Petrie 1901. 64–79
78.

Teeter 2003. 1.7 x 1. which seems to indicate that he is an important person. Weill 1961a. of a domain perhaps named nh n.w. p. 136. Above these signs is his title. evm
136
published (selected)
Kaplony 1963a.t). the exact translation of which is a matter of dispute. 11–12. perhaps a director. ˘ This faience plaque was recovered from the Osiris Temple. 32. p. pp. The text opposite him functions as a caption. and demonstrates a further medium for Egyptian writing: a votive offering. pls.4 x 9. 1903 13. 553. in a town called Mnh≥ (. pp. Deposit M69 Gift of the Egypt Exploration fund. votive plaque
faience Dynasty 1. 3150–2890 bc Egypt. Klasens 1956. 145–46.7 cm OIM E7911
79
The decoration of this plaque is composed of a large figure of a man in profile with a staff in his hand. Osiris Temple. 64–79 79.
. 5. pp. 26.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. The name of the individual written in the bottom line of hieroglyphs reads Tri-nt≤r (Terinetcher “One who worships god”). Petrie 1903.33. 25. ca. Abydos. giving his title and name. in a deposit of votive offerings. no.

rather than related to any particular time. They display defined. they are part of a general background of multiple semiotic explorations on which writing proper would draw. increasingly complex.
W
before and beside writing: early cultural codes of visual communication and non-linguistic marking systems
Prior to the emergence of writing proper. Visual forms were arranged according to the logic of pictorial composition. the distinction may be more complex. The above visual codes do not qualify as “proto-writing. although largely unrecoverable to the present. context-independent basis. In practice however. and motifs on seals. 64–67). Budka. The repertoire of graphic forms and their combining into broader compositions displays elements of conventionalization.g. different from pictorial composition. In particular. stand closer to writing as far as formal aspects are concerned. Some of these visual codes. although variable. rather than corresponding to a single string of speech. In this essay I examine aspects of the earliest Egyptian writing concentrating on its gradually increasing representation of language and speech. repertoires of graphic forms.” Rather. I focus on the inscribed material from the recently excavated “proto-royal” Tomb U-j which produced the as yet earliest evidence of writing in Egypt.. rather than following the later formal conventions of writing. particularly when it comes to the earliest stages of the emergence of writing.3 Such visual forms become signs of writing only when they are associated with each other and integrated into a broader system that conventionally and unequivocally relates them to a linguistic meaning on a stable. So-called “pot marks. The messages conveyed were generic ones. ThE EArLiEST EgypTiAN wriTiNg
anDréaS StauDer
riting is classically defined as a conventionalized system of visual communication representing speech. such as orientation and adjustment of relative sizes of signs (see below). a visual representation could always be paraphrased linguistically but such possible paraphrases were necessarily multiple ones. combined according to specific rules.
they were not indexed to language: to be sure. Yet. Yet. would have been available to the original audiences (e. At first sight. such forms of visual communication differ from writing on multiple levels.1 In proposing a developmental sequence for the earliest Egyptian writing. but largely different. pot marks are not indexed on language either. decorated pottery. types of visual communication. rock art. the disposition of graphic forms defines a space of its own. Individual forms shared with simultaneously developing writing were associated with different values within the respective systems.6. feature graphic forms later found as signs of writing. It is only natural — and well documented elsewhere — that a developing script would draw on pre-existing repertoires of visual forms within a given culture. event. Interpretation relied on specific cultural codes which. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
6. person. as well as a few seals immediately pre-dating Tomb U-j. an elaborate painted tableau in an elite tomb). fourthmillennium Egypt witnessed a rich development of various. Graff 2009). place. such a definition seems to imply a clear-cut divide between writing and other systems of visual communication that convey messages without reference to speech. evolutions in southern Mesopotamia. I further question the functional contexts in which the Egyptian developments take place in contrast to the roughly simultaneous. These included representational art (ceremonial objects. Crucially. Moreover.
137
. Pot marks had specific identifying and marking functions and continued existing in historical times alongside fully developed writing as well as various other functionally specific non-linguistic marking systems (Andrássy. and Kammerzell 2009).” 2 found in increasing numbers from the late fourth millennium onward (Catalog Nos.

the size of the dipinti is very large and fitted to the body of the vessels on which they were painted. The extent of the domain over which the ruler buried in Tomb U-j held sway remains difficult to assess. note the extraordinarily elaborate internal details of the fish sign
.. These have been further analogized with the hieratic (cursive) and hieroglyphic (noncursive) varieties of later Egyptian writing and it has been proposed that they would reflect a similar
138
functional complementariness (e. the evidence. or of one to four. such far-reaching ties to important places and sanctuaries would have been essential in establishing the regional prestige and authority of the ruler buried in Tomb U-j. Possible writing is found both in large painted forms on vessels (henceforth referred to as “dipinti”. However. Baines 2004. in the late fourth millennium. urbanism. and on small incised bone tags (figs. perhaps three.1 cm. Ongoing excavations in Hierakonpolis document early developments in sacred architecture.5 It has been proposed that some inscriptions in the tomb may refer to remote places such as Elephantine in the far south on the one hand. in the vicinity of This/Abydos in Upper Egypt. The tags have a small hole and were originally attached to goods. 6.
height 33. Provided the inscriptions have been correctly interpreted.3–6).1. Kemp 2006.. Iconographic imagery on sealings elaborates upon previous traditions. As a result. 6. and modes of elite display. combinations of signs). pp. pp. An interpretation of the Tomb U-j inscribed material 7 builds on the contextual appreciation of the find as a whole. signs (tags). 2009). 7). 60–110). the inscriptions on the dipinti and on the tags have been interpreted as two different formal realizations of the same underlying system. The inscribed material from Tomb U-j comprises two. craft specialization. The dipinti thus hardly qualify as cursive. Moreover.1). 160–61). Only the tags may display occasional cases of phonetic representation and semantic classification (see below). Long-distance trade connections are evidenced by huge quantities of a Palestinian export ware found in the tomb. Political integration of Egypt occurred only in the course of the centuries to follow. Among possible writing. Inscriptions consist in short sequences of one or two signs (dipinti). Several signs and sign combinations on the tags have been plausibly
figure 6. Their execution is detailed with at times extraordinarily elaborate realizations of internal parts of signs (fig.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
the inscribed material from tomb u-j
The first forms of emerging writing were found in the “proto-royal” Tomb U-j in the Umm el-Qa’ab cemetery. Dipinto with fish and tree from Tomb u-j.4 The period witnessed the emergence of competing regional political entities along the Nile Valley extending to Lower Nubia (e. The association with three different surfaces and modes of inscription points to different functions. generally two. may suggest otherwise (Regulski 2008a. the relation between the two types of inscriptions found in Tomb U-j differs from the relation later to obtain between hieratic and hieroglyphic varieties.g.g. different types of visual codes. The overlap in signs featured in both the dipinti and on the tags is relatively limited. 6. and remains unclear. both systemic and formal.6 figs.1–2. combined with an internal analysis of the inscriptions themselves (sign repertoires. probably bundles of cloth as can be inferred from the particular type of numerical notations found on some of them. possibly a sanctuary close to Buto and Bubastis in the Delta on the other.

let alone speech (Baines 2004. let alone “reading. Asymmetrical signs tend to be oriented in the same direction on a given tag. Only some signs however can be readily identified with later ones. note the calibration of the size of signs to each other. the Tomb U-j inscriptions. Based on a recurring combination of a tree sign with various other signs. The interpretation of the smaller sized corpus of the dipinti — which may reflect a different system — remains tentative. estates) and prestigious beings (divine entities. Further difficulties arise from the small size of the corpus and its relative isolation.3).” scale 1:2
139
. Moreover. Actual “readings” (a few examples below) rely on the application of general principles and values of individual signs as known from later stages of writing.
the tomb u-j material as an incipient form of writing
It is difficult to assess the status of the Tomb U-j inscribed material as writing — that is.” the inscriptions. Overall. The Tomb U-j visual code(s) may display emergent representation of language. embedded in place designations. particularly the tags. Signs shared with later stages of Egyptian writing. while not many within the overall repertoire. One inscription may thus read
Tomb u-j. irrespective of the relative sizes of their referents: for instance. the very concept of “decipherment. as in the later script. More significantly yet.2). of places (sanctuaries/towns. many signs and sign combinations remain unclear in interpretation. Dipinto from Tomb u-j depicting scorpion
and tree signs. Provided the readings that have been proposed are correct. Based on its high relative frequency. 184–85. this seems limited to names and designations. may be partly misleading when it comes to the earliest forms of writing. Intuitively.3. it has been suggested that some of the dipinti could refer to domains associated with the production or distribution of funerary goods.6. “look” like writing. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
interpreted as place names. scale 2:1
figure 6. Wengrow 2008). suggest some continuity of development. pp. 6. and the whole enterprise may involve some danger of back-projection. a scorpion sign has been interpreted as standing for the ruler buried in the tomb (fig. 6. as a visual code aimed at representing language — due to persistent difficulties in interpreting. It is thus advisable to begin with issues of form (Vernus 2001). a bird sign has the same size as an elephant sign (fig. Tag from
figure 6.” while historically at the heart of the philological disciplines devoted to the study of the written record of the ancient Middle East. signs are calibrated to each other. Perhaps to be interpreted as “Plantation of King scorpion. possibly the origins of the goods to which the tags were attached. According to the generally accepted interpretation of the material.2. very few common words may also be found. ruler[s]). These were only incipiently adapted to (or “oriented on”) representing language.

Such combinations may then be playing directly — even if limitedly — on the two articulations specific to language. scale 2:1
140
. similar modes of non-linguistic juxtaposition underlie the combination of a tree sign with various other signs (figs. Although names have a particular status in language. 6. The following is based on a series of readings that have been proposed. the snake sign would stand for its later value. It remains unclear whether wholly phonetic notation is documented in Tomb U-j. 6.4). if to be read as |bw “Elephantine. would be described as “logograms” (“word-signs”). on the tags only. “western Mountain. the Tomb U-j visual code(s) thus differ from other forms of visual communication which lend themselves to multiple paraphrases in speech. a word for a snake. 6. for more mature stages of writing.6. Tag from Tomb u-j. it seems that the interpretation of an individual sign could be further specified — and thus disambiguated — by another sign that offered some additional phonetic or semantic information. 5). The Tomb U-j visual code(s) display clear elements of principled rules for combining signs. combinations of signs need not be grounded linguistically: nonlinguistic combination of signs is characteristic of pot marks for instance.” without reference to any particular language. The presence of the snake sign would suggest a reading d≤ w “mountain” for the group. in a manner akin to “determinative” signs of later periods.5).vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
“Mountain of Darkness” or “Western Mountain” (d≤ w grh≥ : fig.5. different from common words. perhaps
reading b˙st “Bubastis” (?). a sound conventionally transcribed as d≤. Per se. An often quoted instance of possible phonetic specification would be in the combination of a snake with a hill sign (fig.
figure 6. The sequence can be interpreted — if this is correct — quite literally as “Plantation/ Domain of X.4). 6. An emergent adaptation to (or “orientation on”) language may further be found in the very ways names and designations are notated. perhaps
reading d≤w grh “Mountain of Darkness. this would be a case of reciprocal specification of two signs: their combined occurrence would indicate that neither of them is to be read according to values they had when used in other contexts. A case in point may be a group for which a reading b|st “Bubastis” has been both advocated and criticized (fig. that is.” or . By strongly focusing on names. derived via the rebus principle from d≤(wwt). the hypothetical nature of which cannot be overemphasized. In rare cases however. It remains unclear whether the latter type of place designations are proper names themselves or not. through signs which. specification may work on the semantic (meaning) level. Tag from Tomb u-j. their visual rendition similarly relates them to a unique segment of speech. perhaps
reading ˙bw “Elephantine. In other cases however. two signs seem to notate a single name or designation.1–2. as opposed to other values the hill sign may have had in other contexts. This may be the case in a group of an elephant and a hill sign (fig.8
Names and designations were overwhelmingly notated through single signs. Within Tomb U-j. the semantic (meaning) and the phonetic (sound). If the reading is correct. If the proposed interpretation is correct. Elsewhere.6).” scale 2:1
figure 6.” The hill sign would make it clear that the place name is meant. Tag from Tomb u-j. 6.” scale 2:1
figure 6.4.

still largely opportunistic. including ones based on less linguistically oriented “readings. the visual codes in the Tomb U-j tags — as opposed to the dipinti whose status remains unclear — represent a very early developmental stage of writing. If so. Among the above “readings.7. phoneticism.” constitute a strong possibility. No connected speech was notated. The balance between components. it seems plausible on internal grounds that the stage of development
141
witnessed by Tomb U-j involved only a limited inventory of signs. 9 Emblems are paralleled elsewhere as an early way of representing culturally salient names and may be integrated as a distinct subsystem into later. Notation remains predominantly logographic (i. and the scope of writing may have been limited to names.e. fully developed writing. This repertoire may have been not much larger than the few dozens of signs actually attested in the extant inscriptions (Baines 2004. This does not exclude them. scale 1:2
. given that historically attested spellings might have developed only later. “4U” as a rebus writing for “for you”). tags and dipinti.g. and thus the functional workings of the whole system. The potential for later
figure 6. in accordance with the restricted functional scope just outlined. Even in a maximalistic perspective that would accept all the above readings. while the others are not.7).. common words probably featuring only as components of such. Both types of inscriptions. In the stage witnessed by Tomb U-j however. pre-exist to any attempts to represent language and need not be part of a principled system. extending and systematizing their potential. pp. The Tomb U-j inscribed material thus markedly differs from more mature stages of Egyptian writing. p. can be characterized as functionally restricted marking systems (Kammerzell 2009. 304). Such strategies. disambiguating strategies. 6. there is no evidence that they constituted more than gradually emerging. the recourse marginally made to phonetic or semantic disambiguation — if indeed the case — may well reflect ad hoc strategies. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
rather than the animal. Dipinto from Tomb.6. u-j. as well as the rebus principle. 157–58). phonetically interpreted signs and semantically specifying ones play a very limited role only. Suffice it to think of similar semiotic experimentations in contemporary text-messaging writing or in advertisements (e. emblem. Other interpretations. Other repertoires of — not necessarily linguistically oriented — signs might have been used in other functional contexts. To be sure.” only the one proposed for “Elephantine” is supported by spellings known from historical times.10 While the evidence remains contingent upon archaeological findings. Moreover. and semantic complementation that the later writing would develop. this would strongly contrast with the much higher number of signs found within a single repertoire in proto-cuneiform and reflect the very different functions of the two writings in their respective earliest attested forms. The inscriptions on the tags additionally show formal features typical of writing (Vernus 2001) and emerging orientation to language. based on single signs). In sum. it is precisely on the basis of such ad hoc explorations of the rebus principle. rather than systemically entrenched “values” of these signs. differ significantly from more mature stages of Egyptian writing.. These names were partly represented by emblems drawn from pre-existing modes of visual communication (fig. the iconic referent of the sign.

and the realization that these represent actual writing rather than pictography. The Development of Maya Writing. Mayan writing shows a strong focus on ceremonial functions and elite display (see 15. The development of the earliest Egyptian writing is contemporaneous with. subsequently to spread elsewhere. the incipient form of writing found in the Tomb U-j inscriptions is profoundly rooted in the emblematic modes of representation more generally found in late fourth-millennium Egypt. specific to any given society.. and directly related to. The crucial point. In the context of major political and social changes affecting both southern Mesopotamia and Upper Egypt. and attempts to control. rather than dramatically. the importance of the Tomb U-j material lies with the window it opens on the very early stages of development of an emerging writing. the Tomb U-j inscriptions represent a typologically very early developmental stage of writing. Simultaneously. Houston 2004b). The focus on names is remarkable and strongly contrasts with early Mesopotamian writing which overwhelmingly notates goods and institutions of various sorts.12 has now moved significantly
142
closer to the Mesopotamian one. As argued above. The earliest Egyptian evidence for writing. but is explained by taking into account the broader context. precisely. the emergence of regional political entities and associated elites. and niched brick architecture. restricted in its inventory of signs and in its scope. predating late Dynasty 0 evidence by a century. The hypothesis of a Mesopotamian influence on the emergence of Egyptian writing was at times embedded into a broader frame arguing that the original invention of writing.11 As to the latter issue. would have occurred only once in human history. the stage witnessed by Tomb U-j. the earliest clear instances of Egyptian writing dated back to the late Dynasty 0 (ca.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
developments may possibly be given by exploratory phonetic and semantic disambiguation strategies. however. an appreciation of the functional range of the earliest Egyptian writing
. tokens of which are found in elements of foreign iconography on Egyptian prestige objects. 3200–3100 bc). has further recast the debate. Against the background of these two contrasting poles.
the functions of the earliest egyptian writing
Writing may emerge and develop for a variety of reasons. dated by the excavator to ca. a good case in point being. whether through general awareness that writing was present elsewhere. supra-regional trade networks. The distinctively indigenous nature of the Egyptian repertoire of signs was interpreted as a case of cultural adaptation of a foreign technology to local purposes.
egyptian writing as a local development
Prior to the proper scientific excavation of Tomb U-j and its publication in 1998. 14 While proto-cuneiform is associated with the needs of already complex administrative structures and associated institutions of scribal training. The close proximity in time and the relative proximity in space of the southern Mesopotamian and Egyptian inventions of writing remains remarkable. Rather than chronological. The discovery of the Tomb U-j inscribed material. a more refined understanding of the working of early writing in general demonstrates that writing may develop gradually. this volume). now proves otherwise (e. 3320 bc. a few centuries later than in southern Mesopotamia. As further suggested by the sign forms themselves. It had long been known that later fourth-millennium Egypt witnessed sustained cultural contact with southern Mesopotamia and Susiana. This led to the — always controversial — hypothesis that Egyptian writing may have originated as a result of cultural influence from Mesopotamia. or possibly through some actual knowledge of the workings of the Mesopotamian system. This in turn is part of a set of complexly interrelated phenomena that simultaneously affected various parts of the ancient Near East in the later fourth millennium. lies elsewhere.g. the adoption of the cylinder seal.13 the roughly simultaneous emergence of writing in the two regions is no coincidence. which can now be modeled as a local sequence. conceived of as a dramatic cultural achievement. partly in relation to the development of. the decipherment of Mayan glyphs and other New World scripts.

rather than being attached to the goods on their various places of production. Wang. 6. Moreover. Neither the paste fill of the tags nor the internal details of the painted signs carried any added value in making the signs more distinctive for practical purpose. and Pumpenmeier 1998.1). Inca quipus) or in fifth. almost exclusively from funerary contexts. Yet. such as in Mesoamerica (e. and Wilkinson 1995). Numerical notations on the tags (Catalog No. and early state. This however need not have been the case. The tags were thus produced in whole series in one place. illustrate how societies developing toward early state structures may well manage the level of administrative control they need by non-linguistically oriented record-keeping techniques of various sorts. economy. and could have involved perishable materials (Postgate. This suggests that the tags were. 15 To be sure. It has also been observed that the tags were made out of large bone plates scored into a grid (Dreyer. As discussed above. the situation as found in late fourth-millennium southern Mesopotamia cannot be generalized uncritically to the vastly differing Egyptian society.and early fourth-millennium Greater Mesopotamia (e. The Tomb U-j inscribed material itself has been interpreted as directly evidencing an administrative function of the earliest attested Egyptian writing. the latter would have been transposed to a ceremonial level. through both context and material. Such a stage was certainly reached in Egypt at some point no later than the early First Dynasty. and does not necessarily extend to the repertoires and systems
.6. this value resided at the level of the materiality of the inscribed object itself. as in the funerary selfpresentations of Old Kingdom elites. The material aspects of the Tomb U-j inscriptions thus reflect a strong ceremonial dimension of the earliest attested Egyptian writing. Other possible contexts in which writing might have been used. as appealing as this line of argument may seem. Furthermore. Other parallels. 1027). 137). or upon the different moments of arrival of such goods in This/Abydos. Rather. Furthermore. banning any conclusions drawn from the analogy with the functions of the later developing hieratic script. from the very outset. It is also partly ideological. but the generally limited knowledge of the Egyptian state and society of yet earlier periods makes it difficult to assess more precisely when. this is not exclusive of a utilitarian function..g. To begin with. the writing of names and places probably had a more mundane background in contemporary non-ceremonial marking practices. a closer consideration of the evidence suggests a more nuanced picture. often in monumental size (fig. some tags display numerical notations. Both the tags and the dipinti are physically associated with goods deposited in the tomb. p. Writing becomes a requisite only at a later stage.
143
both the dipinti and the inscriptions on the tags involved a relatively time-consuming production process. Hartung. The tags were first carved. Within a protoroyal tomb such as Tomb U-j. The plates were cut along the lines of the grid only after the inscription was applied. the dipinti hardly qualify as a cursive script. Arslantepe in southern Turkey [Frangipane 2007]). then filled with paste. either within the particular context of Tomb U-j or more generally in late fourth-millennium Egypt. such as settlements. The classical image of the Egyptian bureaucratic state is based on material from considerably later times. while the dipinti were painted with elaborate details. this need not imply a utilitarian function of the earliest Egyptian writing itself.. the surfaces and modes of inscription point to a strong ceremonial dimension of writing in Tomb U-j. designed for the tomb. 68) clearly reflect actual record-keeping practices. Strictly speaking.g. Yet. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
is made difficult by potential gaps in the archaeological evidence. Due to the lack of direct evidence in the late fourth millennium. perhaps to be viewed as enacting group identity (Wengrow 2008. p. as is shown by several cases of overlap of signs from one tag to another whenever the break was not made in the right place. The many hands that can be identified on the tags (Kahl 2001) further point to the participation of numerous individuals in rituals associated with the burial of the Tomb U-j ruler. have been insufficiently excavated. the transposition of marking practices to a ceremonial level — to which the Tomb U-j inscriptions are a witness — primarily pertains to the very marking practices themselves. a general argument is sometimes made that the emergent Egyptian state must have needed writing for administrative control. often lie buried under the alluvium or present-day towns. Similarly.

written signs rapidly evolve toward distinctively “hieroglyphic” forms (fig. Catalog Nos. 78). So-called “taxation marks” from late Dynasty 0 to the mid-First Dynasty have been reinterpreted as reflecting largely ritual dimensions of funerary economy. thus qualifying as incipient writing. However. while pictorial conventions of representation were established. Kaplony 1963c. 6. In actual recordkeeping functions — to the extent to which such were needed at these early times — marking would have been done by largely different sets — and possibly even systems — of signs. These are marked with a limited inventory of signs. The manipulation of such visual forms was no trivial thing in late fourth-millennium Egypt. Regulski 2010).g. when place names are featured. they seem to relate mainly to a small number of culturally important names. expressing generic ideological archetypes associated with kingship. writing expanded from its initially highly restricted functions to other domains. writing is found on seals. roughly one century after Tomb U-j. Numerical signs stand out as a subsystem in any writing because they do not point to words or names. partly derived from emblematic representations. private funerary stelae. While keeping
a strong focus on names (e. scale 1:1
144
. 3200–3000 bc). Writing allowed these visual representations to be secondarily related to the singular identity of a specific king. 71–72. 6. note the distinctively hieroglyphic shape of the signs.8.17 On ceremonial objects (palettes.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
of signs employed in such. Pätznick 2005) — contrasting with Mesopotamia where seals remained largely uninscribed at this period — writing
figure 6. The latter remain predominant on such objects. they need not have shared much else. umm el-Qaab (seal reconstructed from multiple individual sealings). Writing thus developed as one component of Egyptian centrally driven formal culture. fig. 76–77.. from Abydos. In its conspicuous usage on seals (Catalog Nos. as well as. funerary vessels.
subsequent developments
Written evidence becomes more abundant in late Dynasty 0/early First Dynasty (ca. many of which would be defining of Egyptian visual culture and remain remarkably stable throughout later history.16 nor any evidence as yet — neither internal to the Tomb U-j inscriptions. To be sure.8. seal with a complete list of royal names ranging from the beginning to the middle of Dynasty 1. most of which are highly prestigious visual forms. and in offering lists. There is no necessity.8. nor elsewhere in the period — that such contemporary utilitarian marking practices should have begun representing language. ceremonial tags) writing was used to complement pictorial compositions (Baines 1989). Standing alone. mace-heads. At the same period. 74. it is safe to assume that contemporary non-ceremonial marking practices would have shared numerical signs with the Tomb U-j tags. possibly to a particular event (Vernus 1993). As to the non-numerical inscriptions in Tomb U-j. rather than narrowly utilitarian purposes (Kahl 1995).

writing tended toward increased autonomy from the material surface on which it was inscribed. end of First Dynasty [Kahl 1994. names or entities were directly associated with each other. and in more elaborate captions to pictorial scenes. In a first stage. These include both determinatives specific to one word and more generic ones that could be applied to a whole class of words. While extending its functional range. Such strategies involve both phonetic and semantic complementation (“determinatives”). initially in the context of expressing the relation of the king to the gods.
145
. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
was associated with marking functions that could be both utilitarian and prestige bound. a figure comparable with proto-cuneiform. Complete clauses with predicative forms are found from the late Second Dynasty onward. The latter notably included titles. A large set of signs representing discontinuous sequences of two consonantal phonemes (so-called “biliterals”) is developed before the Third Dynasty (ca. p. probably also in administrative usage). Within the latter. Various strategies for semantic (meaning) specification are developed. administrative entities. in inscriptions on seals. Simultaneously. solely logographical notations. increasingly.6. Besides royal and geographical names. 76–77). of offerings. 2001). These developments may be described as the earliest stages of hieratic proper — as opposed to ink-written signs found already in late Dynasty 0. in lists (of titles. writing came to represent ever more aspects of language. and commodities (Catalog Nos. 3100–3000 bc ). with the appearance of a hieroglyphic sign depicting a papyrus scroll (reign of Qa’a. while still prominent. depending on the type of seals and contexts of sealing practices. increasingly on a regular and systemic basis (Kahl 1994. A near complete set of signs representing the consonantal phonemes of the Egyptian language is attested by the early/mid-First Dynasty (ca. During the Second Dynasty. The strong development of the phonetic component in notation and complementation is striking and becomes even more so when compared to the still predominantly logographic modes of notation found in contemporary Mesopotamia. Phonetically interpreted signs are used both in purely phonetic notations and. Double semantic complementation of a word by both a specific and a generic determinative is found by the Third Dynasty. It remains unclear whether the latter process is to be related to the particular morphological structure of Egyptian. As a result of the above developments toward higher textual integration. now fully productive. To some extant. Names have a special status within any language because their referent is an individual. for complementing otherwise notated words. Such values are derived by the rebus principle. such as the object they were written on and/or pictorial compositions they were embedded in. rather than in a conjugated present or past tense. rather than a class of entities with particular semantic features potentially exploitable for written representation. The overall number of signs dramatically increases to about a thousand. verbs are significantly found in the infinitive only. as well as indirectly. which are mere painted versions of hieroglyphs (Regulski 2009). the meaning of written messages became increasingly less dependent upon extra-linguistic frames of interpretation associated with their context of inscription. bundling individual clauses into cohesive written discourse. it may be related however to the distinctive focus of the earliest Egyptian writing on personal names. References to written administration are found from the mid-First Dynasty (ca. 3000 bc ) onward. it notated private names and an increasingly large variety of words. increasing cursiveness of ink-drawn signs and the development of consistent modes of abbreviating signs — such as emphasizing the distinctive visual features of the object depicted — similarly point to a widening range of usages of writing. The written representation of grammatical morphemes was extremely slow to emerge in both areas and did not play any significant role in the rapid phoneticization of the early Egyptian writing. 70. 2750 bc ). increasingly give way to more explicit writings of words through multiple signs. isolated names or entities stood in exclusive relation to nonwritten elements. Continuous texts appear only with the Old Kingdom.
The system itself underwent profound changes with gradually augmenting recourse made to strategies for secondarily specifying the readings of individual signs. In a second stage. with its salient consonantal root morphemes. At a general level. this contrast reflects two different possible trajectories in script evolution. 36]). As a result of the above developments.

have no particular linguistic meaning and are rendered purely phonetically (fig. as well as to predictable contexts. as opposed to such containing a logogram. Ambiguity — and thus the need for further specification — may be higher in solely phonetic notations. Egyptian writing at the beginning of the Old Kingdom (ca. Other names. which point to a singular referent. As the relative chronology of development suggests. stand in a stark contrast with contemporary proto-cuneiform. pp. The development of determinatives is also interpreted as a response to the widening functional ranges of writing. specific word(s). both incomplete. with the effect that word boundaries are not given a priori any more. phonetic notations use multiple non-specific signs for representing one word. further contribute to signalling word boundaries. Some names are clauses. Abydos. 2650 bc . The particular balance between phonetic and semantic components allowed for the remarkable variability of spellings found in mature hieroglyphic writing. were mostly confined to high frequency items. while a logogram immediately indicates the word boundary (the latter being
identical with the sign itself).9). however. By and large. onesign notations of words had receded dramatically. 21– 98) represented language in both its phonetic and semantic articulations. each word of which could be notated logographically (Catalog No. The latter occurred in relation to notating names. The name has no particular meaning in the language. The probably limited inventory of signs. 6. Based on internal analysis. as well as the strong. Personal name reading h˘p. this may be described as a marking system with a highly restricted scope of application. Solely logographic notations. Determinatives. mostly prestigious ones. Egyptian writing had moved by the mid-third millennium to notations in which semantic and phonetic information. Egyptian writing thus emerged as a local development.9.
conclusion
The Tomb U-j inscriptions offer a rare view of a typologically extremely early developmental stage of writing. dedicated to one. as well as purely phonetic ones without any semantic complementation. 6. Dynasty 1 funerary stela from umm el-Qa’ab. both phonetic and semantic. perhaps exclusive. this secondary function of determinatives becomes important. With more words being written. scale 1:2
. Schweitzer 2005. With the extension of writing to continuous sequences of speech.2). the motivation for the earliest development of Egyptian writing
146
figure 6. and is notated purely phonetically h˘ + p. which stand at the end of a given word. or very few. such as in sequences of titles. rooted in late prehistoric visual culture. It displayed formal features typical of later writing and emergent representation of language. These developments strongly contrast with mid-third-millennium cuneiform which used complementation strategies only in a more limited way and remained predominantly logographic at the time. increases. 71). As a result of the complementary developments toward strong phonetic and semantic complementation as outlined above. Furthermore. such as core vocabulary and some grammatical words. could still largely be represented emblematically (fig. notably in emblematic modes of representation. the extension of writing to a wide range of personal names from late Dynasty 0 onward could have been one favorable locus for the phoneticization of the early Egyptian writing.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
While names found in Tomb U-j. focus on names. the need for disambiguation. As far as current evidence goes. complemented each other to indicate the accurate reading. the rise of determinatives may also have been an indirect consequence of increased phoneticism.

12 Boehmer. pp. and ceremonial functions associated with the nascent kingship. Western semiotics — reaching back to Aristotle who was thinking within the cultural horizon of Greek alphabetic script — have tended to view writing exclusively in terms of its function of representing speech. 17 For the material. Breyer 2002. Kahl 2003. see Baines 2004. 122. Administrative needs need not have been a prime motivating factor and were possibly initially managed by other. Budka. Jiménez-Serrano 2007. “dipinti” generally refers to painted inscriptions. Yet later. for instance. for example. referred to as “graffiti. see 5. 119–20. 11 “Monogenesis” of writing was notoriously advocated by Gelb (1963). marking systems. a similar phenomenon is observed with standards. Pumpenmeier 1998.18 Written messages only gradually gained autonomy from non-linguistic frames of interpretation. 16 For various forms of non-textual marking and record-keeping techniques. and Pumpenmeier 1998. Pantalacci 1996. pp. Full orientation of writing on speech was a process that took almost a millennium to be completed. Pumpenmeier 1998. 4. 5 Hartung 2001. The Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System. For a general presentation and discussion. leading to an increasing alignment of written messages with actual speech. Joffe 2000. 173–77. see the studies gathered in Houston 2004a. non-linguistically oriented. n. 113–14.e. Baines 2004. for example. Hartung. pp. as a secondary code. Kahl 1994. see Wengrow 2008.” or provinces.6. the phenomenon is aptly captured by the phrase “Heraus-bildung” (of writing). pp. of the country. 14 See. 9 For example. 161–64. The focus on names kept for some time after Tomb U-j may have played a role in the early and thorough phoneticization of Egyptian writing. This in turn may have been instrumental in the increasing recourse made to semantic complementation. see. 8 Discussion in Kahl 2001. For a lower date (ca. see Baines 1999. 13 For the latter. prestige. Hartung. this volume. Andrássy. For an introduction to the period. the studies collected in Houston 2004a. Hartung. writing was extended to notate continuous strings of words and clauses. see Wilkinson 1999. Hartung. see. see Wengrow 2006. ThE EArlIEsT EGyPTIAn wrITInG
would have revolved around marking. meaning both “emergence” and “development out-of-images. as “speech made visible. 2 http://www. coexisting with writing in historical times in Egypt. Michalowski 1993 for Mesopotamian place names. The origin of the vessels has been debated. which were later integrated into full writing as a subsystem for designating the various “nomes. Morenz 2004. and Kammerzell 2009. In the past.” 4 The tomb and its material are magisterially published by Dreyer. 18 For similar perspectives in other cultures. 3200 bc). for references. In the Egyptian domain. i. 15 For further discussion. with a discussion of possible parallels outside Tomb U-j. leading to a remarkably complex system of determinatives. centered around a sanctuary for which the standard stood as a token.potmark-egypt.
1
147
. and Pumpenmeier 1993. 6 In epigraphy. one that is less strongly pre-defined by what is known from later developments.
notes
For a broader discussion of issues relating to the earliest Egyptian writing. Hartung 2001. The early Egyptian and contemporary cuneiform writings thus followed significantly different paths of development. Baines 2004.” 7 Dreyer. Gratien 2001. as opposed to incised ones. 3 In German Egyptology.” The Egyptian material contributes to a more differentiated perspective on early writing. Morenz 2004..com. Dreyer. 10 For example. see Regulski 2008b.

7. EGyPTIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG

7. EgypTiAN hiErOgLyphiC wriTiNg
Janet h. JohnSon
gyptian is an Afroasiatic language that is distantly related to Semitic languages (e.g., Arabic, Hebrew, Akkadian) and many African languages (e.g., Berber, Cushitic, Chadic). Egyptian shares many things with these languages. One shared trait had a major influence on the Egyptian writing system — the root system. Most words consist of two or three consonants; the vowels changed depending on the form of the word being used (noun vs. verb, singular vs. plural, past tense vs. present tense, etc.). This led to use of a writing system that (like Arabic and Hebrew) wrote only the consonants, which were consistent among all the forms of the word, not the vowels, which changed from form to form (a native speaker of the language would have known which vowels to use with which forms, so there would not have been any confusion). The earliest Egyptian writing may have written words by drawing a picture of the item involved. Each hieroglyph is a picture of a real object from daily life. But it is impossible to write some words in such a system (how do you draw a picture of “love” or “faith” as opposed to “man” or “house”?), and it is very hard to write complete sentences. Thus, the Egyptians employed the rebus principle: One can write a word using a picture of something that has the same sound. A classic example in English is drawing a (honey)bee followed by a leaf from a tree to write the word “belief.” Thus, in Egyptian, (phonetic r) could be a picture of a mouth used to write the preposition “to, at, against” (also phonetic r) or the floor plan of a simple house (phonetic pr) could be used to write the verb “to go (up)” (also phonetic pr). Since, as noted, the consontal root was so important in Egyptian, only the consonants needed to be the same, not the vowels, for one picture to represent an unrelated word. Thus, many signs developed a phonetic meaning/ usage derived from, but distinct from, their pictorial meaning. Such phonograms may represent one (e.g., r), two (e.g., pr), or three consonants. (Such phonograms are frequently referred to as uniliteral,

E

biliterals triliterals

µ k|
Ä dpt

î šw
Ö fnd

| šn

Q h≥wt

figure 7.1. Examples of individual hieroglyphs that convey two or three consonants (biliterals and triliterals)

á

L

biliteral, and triliteral signs; fig. 7.1.) The Egyptians did develop what modern scholars refer to as an alphabet, a group of twenty-four uniliteral phonetic signs representing each letter of the Egyptian phonetic inventory (see table 9.2 below). But the classic Egyptian scripts, based on hieroglyphs, never restricted themselves to using only alphabetic, or even only phonetic, signs. Rather, the writing system used a combination of both ideograms (or logoas “mouth” or as “house”) and grams) (e.g., for the sound/letter r or phonograms (e.g., for the sound/letter combination pr) in combination with what modern scholars call “determinatives” (or semagrams) — signs used to indicate the general used category to which a word belongs (e.g., as a “determinative” after many words indicating types of structures, from huts to palaces). Biliteral and triliteral signs were frequently accompanied by one or more uniliteral “phonetic complements” reiterating the phonetic structure of the word. For L pr “to go (up)” uses the biliteral pr example, á followed by a uniliteral phonetic complement r and a “walking legs” determinative indicating that this word is a verb indicating motion or movement. When a sign was being used with its logographic meaning (and without phonetic complements), it was normally accompanied by a stroke (e.g., “house”) where the stroke said “take me literally.” Although in theory every hieroglyphic sign could be used in all of these ways, in actuality pr is one of the few which is so used regularly; most signs were restricted to one or two of the three functions of logogram, phonogram, determinative.

á

á

L

L

L

´

L»

149

vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE

The earliest and most characteristic Egyptian script is hieroglyphs, a term derived from the Greek ∂ï™ρ∆¶∫‚‰∂∏≤é “of sacred carving,” reflecting the use of hieroglyphs on temple and tomb walls, stelae, statues, and other monumental inscriptions. The Egyptians themselves referred to this script as mdw ntr “words of the god,” believing that the god Thoth invented writing (see 5. The Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System, this volume). Other scripts described as “hieroglyphic” are known, among them Luwian, Chinese, and Mayan (see 13. Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing, 14. The Beginnings of Writing in China, and 15. The Development of Maya Writing, this volume), but the systems are completely unrelated, and they developed in isolation from each other. The earliest hieroglyphic texts appear about 3320 bc; the latest dated hieroglyphic inscription comes from ad 394. The brief texts from the predynastic Tomb U-j at Abydos already employ signs for their phonetic values.

For example, a tag (see fig. 6.4) is marked with a bird (known from later periods to have the phonetic value b|) and the chair/throne sign (phonetic st); this combination has been interpreted as the writing of the geographic location Bubastis (B|-st). The complexity of the earliest texts has led some scholars to propose that Egyptian was the result of a “single invention” rather than a gradual development (Parkinson 1999, p. 73). Others, however, assume that the earlier stages of the script have simply not survived. Egyptian hieroglyphs were, as noted, used in monumental and ceremonial contexts, including religious papyri and tomb furnishings. Hieroglyphs served as part of the decoration of such monuments and could be written in columns or rows and could face either right or left (the front of the hieroglyph would point toward the beginning of the inscription). This flexibility is especially noticeable on doorways where an inscription may start in the middle over the doorway and flow out and down in both directions (fig. 7.2). An inscription accompanying a human being or deity would face in the same direction as the human or deity. There is no space left between words or sentences, although the determinatives found at the end of most words do effectively mark word boundaries. Signs were arranged in square or rectangular groups rather than simply being strung out one after the L where the pr-sign is written over other (e.g., á the r); signs are read from top to bottom and from front to back. The placement of individual signs may be transposed for esthetic reasons (to avoid gaps) or for honorific reasons. For example, in personal names that incorporate the name of a god, the divine name may be written before the other

´

figure 7.2. Doorway at the temple of ramesses III

at Medinet habu decorated with hieroglyphic texts. The text on the lintel reads right and left from the central ankh-sign. The texts on the left jamb read from right to left, those on the right from left to right. The different orientation of the signs created a symmetrical composition

figure 7.3. Cartouche (name ring) of King Tutankhamun to be read from left to right. The name is written Imn twt ankh because the name of the god Amun (Imn) has been honorifically placed first. however, the grammatical structure of the name, which means “living Image of Amun,” indicates that the name was read Tut-ankh-Amun

150

7. EGyPTIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG

phonetic elements (fig. 7.3). The interaction between word and picture in the hieroglyphic system is highlighted by the occasional mutilation of signs of dangerous animals, etc., in tomb inscriptions (see figure on page 156, below). There were several hundred signs in regular use until the Ptolemaic period (fourth–first century bc), when a large number of new signs were developed. Most signs appear in their classic shape already in the Old Kingdom and show little modification in their form through time. Because hieroglyphs can be elaborate images that are time-consuming to execute (fig. 7.4), the more cursive, and more rapidly written hieratic and Demotic scripts were usually used for economic, legal, and administrative documents, literary texts, and letters.
figure 7.4. highly detailed hieroglyph in the form
of an owl that has the phonetic value m

151

the large standing figures of the man and his wife serve two
152
functions: as oversized hieroglyphs that normally follow their names and simultaneously as a representation of the couple. there can be ambiguity about whether a sign is being used for its phonetic value. a shallow tray with bread(?). Dynasties 7–11. funerary Stela limestone. The images of offerings in front of the man — a foreleg. 1935 66. dark red being the color used for men’s skin. two baskets. For example. 2219–1995 bc Purchased in Cairo. The artistic aspect of hieroglyphs is illustrated by the use of pigment on this stela. a small figure of a man or woman normally follows the writing of a person’s name indicating that the word is a person’s name. In the third column from the
. pigment first Intermediate Period. The small hieroglyphs of men and of men’s faces in profile or frontal view are highly detailed in dark red and black. for the image it portrays. blurring the line between phonetic writing and picture writing. ca. On this stela.0 x 43. and two tall wine jars in stands — all have more extended phonetic spellings. The hieroglyphic writing system could be highly efficient. only the image of what is portrayed was used. ribs and head of a calf.8 cm OIM E16955
Because hieroglyphs are not abstract signs but actual images of objects. 80–82
80
80. but here. five beer jars in a rack.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. or for a combination of both functions.

EGyPTIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. beer. Yet the text had such effectiveness that its appearance on the stela guaranteed funerary provisions for the deceased. the small hieroglyphs of a seated man and woman are colored red and yellow respectively. 101–02. pp.
153
. and so all the hieroglyphs also face to the right. and fowl and “every good thing” by the simple act of reciting the names of those provisions.7. is called a “voice offering. pl. 31. It implores visitors to the tomb to leave food. cattle. starting with the horizontal line at the top of the stela and then continuing with the right-hand vertical column. yellow. even though it is unlikely that a visitor could actually read the text (the literacy rate has been estimated at about 1–3 percent of the population). et
published
Dunham 1937. 80–82
right. the man and his wife face right. the text is read from right to left. Their orientation is related to larger-scale figures to whom the text refers. On this stela. This type of prayer.” These voice offerings are a common feature of funerary stelae. In this arrangement. Otherwise the red. The text that begins in the fifth row from the right demonstrates the potency of the
written word. black pigments seem to alternate decoratively among the signs. just like the large figures of the man and his wife. if they have nothing. to give bread. Hieroglyphs can be written from left to right or right to left. which transformed written text into actual food for the deceased. but. The word for “bread loaf ” is always yellow and the beer jar sign is dark red in imitation of their true color.

while the general principle is at work on the outer doorjambs. the group J “craftsmen” is ∑a written from right to the left. false door stela of nisuredi. it is in reverse orientation: À . 50 x 32 x 6 cm. In the orientation of Egyptian writing. the figures and the signs usually share the same orientation. however.
limestone. The rules presiding over this orientation are multiple. this volume. show how far the visual relation between hieroglyphic signs and pictorial representation were consciously exploited and deliberately composed in the monumental sphere. remarkably. as well as many others. Dynasties 4–5. ca. but at the bottom of that text. The orientation of signs is further adapted to their architectural setting. deviations can be observed on the inner doorjambs of the same monument. on the right inner doorjamb. when a text is inscribed on the jambs of a false door. looking against the flow of reading (see 13. Old Kingdom. Any accompanying figures would likewise be mainly oriented to the right. Additional subtleties result from principles of harmonic composition. very often. for similar phenomena in those systems). for example. for example. the sign for s is oriented to the left À . The most common orientation of the script is reading from right to left. the hieroglyphs usually face the person for whom the offerings are intended. rather than a J ∑ as would be expected from the left to right orientation of the remainder of the column. signs and figures can face to the left. similarly. 80–82
the orientation of hieroglyphs
The close relation between hieroglyphic writing and art is evidenced in the interrelation of the orientation of signs and figures in scenes. however. in Old Kingdom offering lists. OIM E10825
154
. such examples. Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing and 15. at times in relatively complex interaction (fischer 1977).vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. jsp
figure. The “correct” left to right arrangement of signs of this same title can be seen on the horizontal line. In the case of a caption to a scene. On the upper part of the inner left doorjamb. The Development of Maya Writing. An example of such symmetry is found on the false door stela of nisuredi. asymmetrical signs (such as animate beings) face the beginning of the line. signs on opposite doorjambs will face each other to create a symmetrical composition. with asymmetrical signs thus facing right. but there are exceptions. 2613–2345 bc.

now housed in the Oriental Institute Museum. Developing just one specific example. The sign representing the solar disk is used to write the name of the solar god Rª. Color inlay slab from the tomb of nefermaat. Old Kingdom. In nefermaat’s mastaba. 80–82
writing in nefermaat
Due to their iconic nature. sahura. it is found in Old Kingdom theophoric royal names (royal names incorporating a divine element). jsp
%
note
a “Erasing” refers to the phenomenon of tomb usurpation. EGyPTIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.a The designation nt rw “gods” for the signs engraved bears ≤ witness to the close relationship between writing and the sacred sphere.” referring to both uttered words and words in hieroglyphic writing.e. especially in the funerary context. werra. beyond their basic function of mirroring speech. as well as to texts written in this script. the use of the solar disk thus appears to have been restricted to royal names only (fischer 1986). in the name of the fifth Dynasty king S|h≥w-Rª. Consider for instance the name of the fifth Dynasty official Wr-rª.. This inscription makes a remarkable statement about the status of hieroglyphic writing in the Old Kingdom.7. This dimension is alluded to in an inscription on a panel from the early fourth Dynasty mastaba of nefermaat in Meidum. for instance. ra. re-use of extant elite tombs by later officials is well documented in the Old Kingdom. note that the designation of signs by nt≤rw alone is rare: the usual term is mdw-nt ≤ r “godly words. Dynasty 4. In these.
figure. ca. from Meidum. protecting them against any attempts at destruction or usurpation. signs of hieroglyphic writing had power of their own. however. among other things. the very same sign is systematically avoided in non-royal theophoric names. Egypt. In Old Kingdom theophoric names. OIM E9002
155
. As such. the reliefs are deeply carved and filled with a color paste. remarkably. they also carry power of their own. the sun sign is replaced by a phonetic writing of the god ra: r (the mouth sign) + ª (the arm sign). some signs could not be used in particular contexts during the Old Kingdom. As nefermaat’s inscription makes explicit reference to. hieroglyphic signs not only represent language. hieroglyphs) in writing that cannot be erased.
swt ir nt≤rwÚf m sš n sinÚf he (nefermaat) is the one who made his gods (i. 2613–2494 bc.

Most of these letters are written on pottery vessels that were left in the tomb chapel of the recipient. thereby “killing” that individual. the written reference to food offerings on a mortuary stela (see Catalog No. Determinative of a snake in the writing of the word “kill” or “decapitate” on the wall of the tomb of Kheruef at Thebes. ca. et
figure. pigment first Intermediate Period. or to appeal to dead relatives or acquaintances to stop harming the living from the beyond. When these signs appear in texts on coffins or on tomb walls. 1929 23. writing was used to communicate with the dead. and the written reference to a person’s name ensured that individual’s eternal existence in the afterlife. Dynasty 18
81. In a similar way.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.0 cm OIM E13945
81
Writing in Egypt was considered to have such power that it could transcend the realm of the living and the dead. they are sometimes mutilated by knives or shown cut in two to render them powerless. the identity of a statue could be altered by changing the name incised on it without recarving the facial features. These “letters to the dead” are in the form of quasi-legal appeals from the living to the dead asking them to intercede on their behalf with the tribunal of the gods in the realm of the dead. 2199–1976 bc Purchased in Cairo.
letter to the dead
Baked clay. 80) ensured that those provisions would be provided for the deceased forever. for often unknown reasons. signs of animals that might bite. The sign has been rendered harmless by three knives. their name has been chiseled out or erased. 80–82
The Potency of Writing in Egypt
n ancient Egypt writing was more than a means of communication because the written word had the power to create what was recorded.
I
In some contexts. Just as one might write to someone who was physically not present. For example.0 x 9. This example is written on a jar stand that would have supported a dish of food
156
. sting. Dynasty 11. The connection between the writing of a person’s name (or even the name of a god) and their existence is demonstrated by occasions where. or consume funerary offerings were considered to be dangerous.

thereby activating the liquid through contact with the words. 43–52. back. This statue. pp. symbolizes his ability to control wild and evil influences. The sides. Sternberg-El Hotabi 1999. 103–04. the texts could heal the sting and bite of wild animals. 80–82
Egyptian protective texts were thought to be far more than invocations — they were so potent that they were capable of effecting cures.
82. which portrays the young god Horus standing on crocodiles. et
published (select)
Seele 1947. and base of the statue are incised with hieroglyphic texts that refer to divine protection against crocodiles and other threatening creatures.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. grasping and immobilizing dangerous creatures. The power of the texts was transferred to the sufferer by pouring water over the statuette. pp. showing hieroglyphic texts
158
. The water was then drunk by the sufferer. Teeter 2003. reverse. Just as Horus the Child triumphed against the wild animals.

is the royal name Scorpion from the site of Tarkhan. a scribe would have been able to write several signs before having to re-dip for more ink. Hieratic texts are frequently transcribed into hieroglyphs for the convenience of modern Egyptologists. when the first examples of monumental hieroglyphs — inscriptions appearing on
. After dipping his brush in ink. 3200 bc) and provide some of the most important socioeconomic and cultural information about Egyptian society.InvEnTIOns Of wrITInG In ThE AnCIEnT MIDDlE EAsT AnD BEyOnD
8. Examples of hieratic written in ink have also been found on cloth. 3000–2680 bc). as opposed to hieroglyphs. and like hieroglyphs was written in either vertical columns or horizontal lines. The appearance of hieroglyphs in about 3320 bc is seen as the beginning of writing in ancient Egypt. The cursive nature of hieratic is what makes the script most notable. but hieratic is actually found soon after the first hieroglyphic inscription. sign usage. banDy
ieratic is a cursive script that was most commonly written with a reed brush and ink on either papyrus or ostraca (pieces of pottery and stone). Egyptologists are even able to tell what kind of document a text is without reading it because there are distinct differences in the handwriting between literary and administrative documents. Instead. Contrary to Saint Clement’s characterization of the script. medical. was not exclusively used during the Greco-Roman period for religious compositions. but differences in spelling. and legal texts. Hieratic was even written using a stylus on mud tablets (dated to the Old Kingdom. and wood. Many of the famous literary tales known from ancient Egypt have been preserved on papyrus in hieratic. Although the signs used in hieratic do correspond to most of the same shapes used in hieroglyphs. dating to about 3200 bc . few such examples have been preserved. Hieratic texts are some of the earliest-attested documents in ancient Egypt (ca. The term “hieratic” comes from the Greek expression grammata hieratika. signs were frequently joined together and at first glance do not appear to resemble hieroglyphs. but also literary. twentythird century bc) and a carved version of the script (known as “lapidary hieratic”) is frequently found in graffiti at sites such as quarries and along trade routes. The appearance of hieratic so early suggests that it was not a later adaptation of hieroglyphs but was developed alongside it. Hieratic even has some signs that are not found in hieroglyphs. Despite the similarities. which could be written in either direction. Typically they list only royal names and information about the contents of the vessels. just south of Cairo. These early inscriptions were very brief and are found on vessels from burials. the script is neither a derivative nor an abbreviation of hieroglyphs. there is not a one-to-one correspondence in signs and writing between the two scripts. mathematical. leather. The first hieratic inscription. Egyptian scribes were able to use both scripts independently. Egyptian scribes were capable of using both scripts and most hieroglyphic inscriptions in formal contexts like temple or tomb walls were originally drafted in hieratic and then adapted into hieroglyphs. Hieratic. ca. hieratic documents include not only religious texts. frequently the place of origin. Both scripts are found among the earliest examples of writing in ancient Egypt during Dynasty 0. administrative.” which was coined by Saint Clement of Alexandria in the second century ad to describe the cursive script used for ancient Egyptian religious texts at the time. hiErATiC
kathryn e. Differences in the script’s paleography — how a text was written as exemplified by the scribe’s handwriting and the shapes of different
159
H
signs — allow Egyptologists to date hieratic documents solely by the script. Examples of hieratic continue to be found throughout the Early Dynastic period (ca. and even the presence of a type of punctuation mark demonstrate that Egyptian scribes did not translate between the two scripts when they were writing. however. As a result of this technique. however. “priestly writings. Hieratic was always written from right to left.

The longevity of the script demonstrates the important role it played in the written tradition of ancient Egypt. such as tombs. Hieratic texts are among the earliest examples of Egyptian writing and the script continued to be used throughout all ancient Egyptian history. hieratic underwent a dramatic series of changes — the scripts of later pharaonic periods bear little resemblance to the earliest attestations of hieratic. Despite these changes. Throughout the following millennia of Egyptian history. Hieratic even seems to have influenced hieroglyphs at different points in
Egyptian history. the use of papyrus. Perhaps most illustrative of the importance of hieratic is the fact that the hieroglyphic sign used to represent the word “scribe” is a scribal palette with the inkwells and reed brush needed to write hieratic. The importance of writing.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
large structures and objects. and statues — appear.
160
. hieratic continued to be used for administrative and religious texts into the third century ad. some of the changing forms of Egyptian hieroglyphs reflect the hieratic script. stelae. Even after the advent of Demotic in the Late Period (seventh century bc). and the importance of scribes even in early Egyptian history is illustrated by the inclusion of a roll of blank papyrus among the burial goods in the Early Dynastic tomb of the seal-bearer Hemaka at Saqqara. hieratic always remained an important part of a scribe’s training and Egyptian writing.

are key sources in our understanding of how the script developed and changed over time. Hieratic becomes more cursive over time and texts such as Papyrus Gardiner III. The division of the papyrus into three sections is clearly indicated by long black vertical lines. Ancient Egyptian religious texts were frequently written in the hieratic script. the scribe was clearly conscious of the amount of space he used when writing.
hieratic text: papyruS gardiner iii
Papyrus. despite the fact that some of the signs look very similar to hieroglyphs at first glance. as is the case here. 2160–2055 bc Gift of Alan h. which dates relatively early in Egyptian history. Gardiner. ca. ink first Intermediate Period. 83–84
83
83. For example.InvEnTIOns Of wrITInG In ThE AnCIEnT MIDDlE EAsT AnD BEyOnD
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. As can be seen on the papyrus. Nevertheless. there are almost no obvious animal or human signs on the papyrus even though they are present — all these forms become abbreviated and abstract in hieratic making them less recognizable than hieroglyphs. Through careful examination
.0 x 36. 1933 24. there are a large number of joined (ligatured) signs and clear cursive forms. The handwriting of the scribe is very clear and legible and is not as cursive as the
161
hieratic script that people typically associate with papyri.5 cm OIM E14062
This papyrus contains three sections of a series of funerary texts known as the Coffin Texts. with each section containing a different funerary spell.

keb
162
. As the text in the horizontal lines states.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. Toward the end of each section. but a term used by Egyptologists to refer to the entire corpus of funerary literature of this period of Egyptian history. the signs become larger and more space is left between them in order to avoid large gaps in the columns on the papyrus. The title “Coffin Texts” is not an ancient Egyptian title. and grammar of the text. The texts are best known from the large number of Middle Kingdom coffins that are decorated with funerary offerings and funerary texts. The Coffin Texts are of particular importance because they provide some of the first examples of funerary texts and literature intended for non-royal individuals. The section is divided into two series of very short vertical columns. and on papyrus. When reading the papyrus. The Coffin Texts are first attested in the First Intermediate Period (ca. I am it and it is I. as papyrus was rather expensive.” The scribe wrote the portion of the text in this manner in order to avoid having to recopy the horizontal lines multiple times and save space on the papyrus. however. and in the two horizontal lines in the central section of the papyrus. Both horizontal lines contain the same content. but also contained knowledge that the deceased would need after death. The double horizontal lines at the top and bottom of the papyrus were inked first. then the dividing lines between the sections were added. stating the primary purpose and importance of the central spell: allowing the deceased to identify and associate himself with a variety of different divinities. Individual entries are called “spells” or “chapters. Writing in this manner
was not just convenient for the scribe but was also an economic decision. when it became clear that he was not going to run out of space. vocabulary. provide enough information to assign a date to the papyrus. along with the text’s layout. At the beginning of each of the three sections. The texts written on the papyrus are part of a large corpus of funerary literature known as the Coffin Texts.” and this section of Papyrus Gardiner III has three spells on it (CT 942–944). with a long horizontal line of text below each. the paleography. the order in which the papyrus was written can be reconstructed. 2055–1650 bc). The central section of this papyrus demonstrates a common trait of hieratic religious texts which is less frequently found in hieroglyphic texts. spelling. Funerary texts were important part of Egyptian religion and burial equipment because they not only provided information about the afterlife. Coffin Texts are also found. in tombs. the horizontal line is to be repeated after each short vertical column — essentially marking a refrain. Although the provenance and owner of this papyrus are unknown (the owner’s name is not preserved). one can see that the scribe began writing carefully in order to conserve space — his handwriting is smaller and he leaves very little space between signs. “the eye of Horus appears as me and I appear as the eye of Horus. and finally the hieratic text was written last. 2160–2055 bc) and are best known in the Middle Kingdom (ca. on stelae and other burial equipment. 83–84
of the papyrus. predating the well-known Book of the Dead.

hieroglyphS and hieratic: papyruS ryerSon Papyrus. and thus were narrated by hieroglyphs. a scribe who wrote the hieratic text. This section of a Book of the Dead for a man named Ny-sw-ShuTefnut employs both scripts. such as that shown here. late third–second century bc Purchased in Paris. Many other contemporary Books of the Dead show this same patterning of hieratic and hieroglyphic writing. In the hieroglyphic text above the scale. while cursive hieratic was usually used for administrative and literary functions and for religious texts on papyrus.0 cm OIM E9787f
Hieroglyphs were generally used on temple walls. 1919 88. 83–84 Of wrITInG In ThE AnCIEnT MIDDlE EAsT AnD BEyOnD
84
84. Ny-sw-Shu-Tefnut’s name was not inserted into the image as would be expected. and possibly a second scribe who added the hieroglyphs. pigment Ptolemaic period. and on some religious papyri. for the text in some areas is crowded into the available space. one area bearing the notation “add the prescribed images. Apparently. there was variation in how such teams worked. On this document. the hieratic spells were completed and spaces were ruled off for illustrations that were never inserted. statues. coffins. suggesting that the large figures were considered to be more formal. while hieratic is used for almost all the spells themselves and to caption smaller images. stelae. hieroglyphs serve as captions to large-scale figurative scenes. The section of Papyrus Ryerson shown here that portrays the weighing of the heart shows further lack of coordination between artist and scribe. akin to scenes on temple walls. consistently being one or two spells off from the expected alignment of text and image. The scribe who added the texts failed to place them by the relevant vignette. The vignettes (pictures that accompany the text) on Papyrus Ryerson were apparently done first. for although the vignette was completed. An unfinished Book of the Dead of Nespasef (in the Metropolitan Museum of Art) shows a different pattern.” Other features of the interaction of scribe and artist are observable on Papyrus Ryerson.InvEnTIOnsOBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. On that document. whereas the texts were literary and more appropriate for hieratic.0 x 40. the
. an artist who drew the images.
163
Presumably a team of artisans worked on this papyrus.

pp. 148 (n. Teeter 2003. 155 (n. 10. 169–70.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. who is shown with his scribe’s palette recording the judgment.
84.” a reference to the myth that writing was invented by Thoth (see 5. pls. 98–99. 146–47 (n. 16–39. this volume). detail showing hieroglyphic text
84. 34–35 (pls. pp. The Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System. 62). 45). is referred to as “the Lord of the Gods’ Words.” and a space has been left (above the head of the baboon) where the name of one of his parents should have been inserted. 152 (n. 118. Mosher 1992. detail showing hieratic text
164
. 25). et
published (select)
Allen 1960. 202–03. 13–50 for entire papyrus). pp. The ibis-headed god Thoth. 83–84
deceased is referred to vaguely as “the Osiris” rather than “the Osiris Ny-sw-Shu-Tefnut. 28).

Demotic developed from hieratic and. not Demotic. More formal documents. where Great) the signs are. linen. Historically. both Egyptian and Greek were used for legal. By the Ptolemaic period (332–30 bc ). Demotic inscriptions were occasionally written on wood. Inscribed in hieroglyphs (top). The term “Demotic” comes from Greek ®≤º∆‡∂∏†é “popular. Most Demotic texts were written in ink using a brush (or. Demotic used both ideographic signs. 85 include (line 3 of text D). including foreign names. including determinatives (see table 9. 9. including a series of uniliteral or “alphabetic” signs (see table 7. ad 452. Although many Egyptians learned to read and write Greek. EgypTiAN dEMOTiC SCripT
Janet h. were normally written using the alphabetic/uniliteral signs. in order from right to left. and religious texts throughout the Ptolemaic period. and ªnh “oath” ̆ begins (at the right) with phonetic ª (the first two signs at the right) followed by a stroke and h (large ̆ round sign in middle) and man-with-hand-to-mouth determinative (the tall sign near the left end). The latestdated Demotic text is a graffito left at the Isis temple at Philae dated December 11. the beginning of a cartouche (used to mark a royal name). which beinh≥ “courtyard” gins (at the right) with phonetic i.” first used by Herodotus (fifth century bc ) to distinguish this script from the “sacred” hieratic and hieroglyphic scripts. it became necessary to write legal documents in Greek. Foreign words. reed) on papyrus or ostraca (potsherds or flakes of limestone). and house determinative (the pair of signs at the left (line 7 of text E). and senior-level administration was carried out in Greek. and phonetic signs.t “letter” or “document writing. the script became much more angular and the orthography was occasionally simplified (for an example of Demotic carved in stone. The rosetta stone. After Egypt was incorporated into the Roman empire. literary.1. documents intended to have a longer lifespan. it was also being used to write literary. which end).1 above).1). see the Demotic section of the Rosetta Stone. In addition to the common use of papyrus and ostraca.9.” Demotic came into use about 650 bc for writing contracts and administrative documents. were normally written on papyrus. Examples of the combination
165
D
figure 9. was written from right to left. when a Demotic inscription was carved in stone or metal. JohnSon
emotic is the name of the most cursive script developed by the ancient Egyptians. later. and other materials. But Demotic literary and religious texts were being written and copied into the third century of our era. and Greek (bottom)
of signs found in words in Catalog No. and religious texts. scientific. as in the writing of the name of Alexander (the (line 1 in text A). then has a biliteral in followed by an h≥ (third sign from right).1). The Egyptians themselves referred to Demotic as sh≤ n š ª. EGyPTIAn DEMOTIC sCrIPT
9. the language used in the administration. like hieratic.
. fig. Demotic (middle).

individual words or signs are occasionally written in hieratic even in the very late Demotic magical texts). hieratic for literary. for example. with its ultimate hieroglyphic ancesá tor ! Å. and hieroglyphs. as if they were indicating (changes in) pronunciation or providing phonetic aids to help in recognizing nonobvious word groups or ligatures. present the formal decree in Greek.g. with added commentary). The decrees issued by the senior Egyptian priesthood in honor of the middle Ptolemies. but more ritual passages seem to have been retained in hieratic. Greek in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. usually in the form of a short prayer. on some private statues and funerary stelae the dedicatory inscription might be given both in hieroglyphs and in Demotic. s. giving the name and place of origin/ residence of the deceased individual. P|-ti-Wsir “The Man Whom Osiris Gave. the Rosetta Stone (fig. and the final dot (on the far left) used by this scribe to mark personal names. Demotic is used in general. to differences in textual genres (e. By the Roman period.” a ligature of plural strokes. and. EGyPTIAn DEMOTIC sCrIPT
|.w . although in other cases Demotic was restricted to the more personal information while hieroglyphs were used for the religious texts). and especially religious. and especially temple personnel. either (Aramaic was used in the Persian period. Some Demotic literary texts appear to be translations of earlier hieratic or hieroglyphic texts (e. frequently or even regularly used Demotic to communicate with the central administration). a ligature of the noun nt≤r. distinct from those of hieratic. Occasionally the scripts seem to share more equal status (e. private). knowledge of proper legal terminology and clarity or elegance of
167
handwriting) (see the discussion of individual differences in handwriting in Catalog No. Papyrus Carlsberg 1 and 1a. P|-ti-n|-nt≤r.g. in other cases the hieratic and Demotic were used for different sections of a text (e.. however. line 2 of text A).
. Scribes seem to have learned to read and write by memorizing words as units.9. Demotic was used to add notes or glosses to a hieroglyphic or hieratic text. scribes frequently added phonetic (usually alphabetic) signs to earlier conventional spellings or replaced conventional historic spellings with “alphabetic” ones. which thus reflected historic orthography. This led to many and various interactions between Demotic and other scripts and languages. Egyptian names involve the same kind of ligatures (combining two or more individual signs into one) as other Egyptian words. Greek and Demotic. r..1). in the handbook describing the process of embalming a deceased Apis bull. r. n. the hieratic origin of the Demotic script is no longer clear in the Demotic.g. As an extreme example of the ligatures and cursiveness of Demotic. administrative vs. by the Ptolemaic period.. t. g. 85).. For example. not contemporary pronunciation. texts) and during most of the period of its use it was not in official administrative use. one can compare the Demotic word rmt≤ “man” (Catalog No. Many Roman-period mummy labels are bilingual. even people who were literate might hire or employ a professional for the sake of expertise. literary vs. a vertical stroke used here (and in names in general) for the verb ti “to give.g. Theban). But Demotic soon developed its own orthographic conventions. and to the skill and care of individual scribes (most of the texts that have been preserved were probably written by professional scribes.g. it was never the sole Egyptian script available (hieroglyphs being retained especially for formal inscriptions. 9.” The traditional or historic writing of a word in earlier scripts formed the original basis for the writing in Demotic. for example. which “The Man Whom the Gods Gave” begins (on the right) with a ligature for the definite article p|. the funerary texts in Papyrus Rhind are presented in hieratic and then in Demotic. Demotic. in which the hieroglyphic texts accompanying the cosmology on the ceilings of the tombs of the New Kingdom rulers Seti I and Ramesses IV (ca. 1297 and 1147 bc respectively) are quoted in hieratic and translated into Demotic. in both periods Egyptians. |. and s followed by the ending of the cartouche and the abbreviation ª w s for ªnh ̆ wd≥≤| snb “may he live. 85.. e. This name is a rather generic variant on a very common type of name in which the name of a particular god is used.. for example. Throughout the millennium during which Demotic was used. There are distinctions in orthography and paleography that have been attributed to local scribal “schools” (e.w “gods.” a ligatured writing of the plural definite article n|. be prosperous and healthy”). Through time. Memphite vs. the number and extent of ligatures increased greatly.g.

There is also one long text in Aramaic written using a very restricted inventory of Demotic “alphabetic” signs and determinatives. Ó from g and ˆ from ‹). left to right. Old Coptic standardized into the final Coptic alphabet by about the third century ad.. which is written in Demotic and Greek
Greek word pinaks “board. as a stand-alone script for writing a text. where the text is written in Demotic. but with the
Maadi/narmouthis 60. Egyptian names and other words were written in Greek characters in Greek documents. writing tablet” written. One Roman-period village in the Fayum has produced a large number of ostraca where Greek and Demotic are intermingled. from right to left. titles. individual Greek words (names. 9.
85
168
. plank. Not only are there similarities and probably literal translations between legal texts in Demotic and contemporary documents written in Aramaic (Persian period) and Greek (Ptolemaic period). above).g. One example is Ostracon Medinet Maadi/Narmouthis 60 (fig.2.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
figure 9. and professions) could be written in Demotic using the appropriate “alphabetic” signs (see the discussion of the writing of the name of Alexander. During the Ptolemaic period. but there are also a number of literary texts that were translated between languages. Demotic legal documents frequently have a Greek notation at the bottom recording the registration of the document in the local records house. During the early Roman period Old Coptic. using the Greek alphabet and a more or less consistent set of Demotic “alphabetic” signs for sounds not represented in the Greek alphabet (e. Ostracon Medinet
Translation between Demotic and non-Egyptian languages is also well attested.2). was developed for transcribing Egyptian into Greek. in Greek in the middle of line 2 of the Demotic. Demotic script was also the basis for writing the more cursive of the two Meroitic scripts used in Nubia. rarely. Similarly. It could be used for glossing individual words written in a Demotic text or.

0 cm OIM E25259
169
. and January 7. men worked and acquired (disposable) income but women did not. faiyum. 311. 85
This Demotic contract is a so-called “annuity contract” made by a man named ªnh-mr-wr to a ̆ woman named N|-nfr(-mn)-ib-Pth≥. Such contracts. or “any private/personal(ly owned) thing at all. as a norm.0 x 35. In a society in which. 310 bc Egypt. text dated between December 9. animals. ink late Period. EGyPTIAn DEMOTIC sCrIPT
OBjECT dESCripTiON: CATALOg NO. 85 is such an annuity contract.
demotic annuity contract
Papyrus. appear to have had two major underlying aims: to assure that the husband will properly support the wife and her children and to assure that it is her children who will be his heirs.” She and the children she will bear the man are acknowledged as his heirs of all property he currently owns or will acquire. 1932 142. made by a husband to his wife.” He promises to provide her with a specific amount of grain and silver every year for her (food) rations
85. whether land. hawara Purchased in Cairo. in which the man/husband acknowledges receipt from the woman/wife of ten pieces of silver for her “endowment. Catalog No. this was an important guarantor of stability for both the family and the society. legal documents. reign dated to Alexander the son of Alexander (the Great).9.

presumably. The annuity contract (text A. although the contract was made by one party to the other. in this case the man. He lists all his property. The first witness wrote his copy (text B) immediately under the original contract.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOn: CATAlOG nO. She also is assured that she will never be forced to travel to some “outof-the-way” place to provide legal evidence with regard to this contract. in a minority of cases over a period of several hundred years. in the original. He acknowledges that he cannot return her silver to her and end the agreement but that if she wants the silver back. each man’s handwriting is distinctive and includes individual minor variations of paleography (the shape of the
Text C (continued) Text D Text E
Text A Text B Text C
figure. see figure below) was written by a professional scribe at dictation from the person making the contract. some documents.” Although all five copies are written by men with fluid handwriting. the marriage). Each man who wrote one of these witness copies began by giving his name (or name and titles) and identifying himself as a “witness” to the “speech” which Party 1. Most Egyptian legal contracts end with a list of witnesses.” Note that the second “column” is not as wide as the space occupied by the original contract. The last two witnesses (texts D and E) filled the remainder of this second “column. include
handwritten copies of the entire contract written out by individual witnesses rather than just the list of names. The scribe who wrote the document signed it after quoting all the statements by any of the parties to the contract (including relatives or others who might have had a vested interest in the property being transferred). he must give it immediately (and thereby end the annuity and. However.” The original contract written by the professional scribe occupied the top right-hand portion (text A) of the large papyrus (created by connecting ten individual sheets of papyrus). to the making of the document and to its contents. Thus. witnesses would write out the entire contract rather than simply signing their names. Diagram of Catalog no. The second person.” copied/rewrote the entire contract (texts B–E). four individuals. 85
170
. again whatever he has currently and whatever he may acquire. 85
and clothing. which he must deliver to whatever house she prefers (this implies that he must continue to feed and clothe her even if she has left him or been thrown out of his house). the scribe signed his name. had made and which he. if necessary. was present and heard the dictated statement and accepted the document only if his statement was acceptable. people who were present for the dictation and can swear in court. the man. Where. On this contract. including one with the title “prophet of (the goddess) Neith. It is not clear why. as security for her annuity. but had to move then to the top of the second “column” to finish his text. including this one. she remains entitled to any arrears in his payments. in this case the woman. the witness. making for shorter lines and a generally more cramped feel for the second “column. proceeds to copy. the agreement was bilateral and subject to the approval of both parties. the individual writing the witness copy wrote “I wrote this. The second witness began immediately under the first witness (text C).

” The scribe of the original text wrote (from right to left) in in a fine. where the first sign has become a straight line and the second and third signs have been ligatured (run together in the writing).” Because they are quoting the speech of Party 1. Another aspect of the writing that is clearly seen in this text is the rhythm of dark ink lines just after the scribe has dipped his brush in the ink. written with three clear alphabetic signs h≥ + n + ª (see alphabet chart.t 7. the second (lefthand) sign in the writing of mt. 85
individual signs and words) and spelling/grammar. followed by gradual lightening of the strokes until the ink is so light that the scribe dips his pen again. compare . the darker ink at of text E the beginning (i.. but not the original. The “double loop” of nt in has become a single loop in text C text A while the “hieratic”-looking top element of nb in text A has taken its standard. see the chart of determinatives.t “thing” (texts A and B . A little over two-thirds of the way along the line . line 3). with (B. line 3). line 1). line 3). Thus. For example. by a large preposition n “to” followed by the name of the second party. the large d≤ is replaced by a large n d≤ “(he being a (text D. was a major familial investment. in the middle of line 3 . The witness is a large di “(you) caused” copies also write the large h≥sb. 19–22. line 4). in the writing of the word rmt≤ “man” in text E ). This document is part of a family archive. (C. table 9.t 7(.9. pp.t rmt≤ nmh≥ nb. text . 3) and E but one can still see that the writing is thicker and less elegant than that of the scribe of text A. retained and stored by the individual or family because of their ongoing legal and economic importance. adding some elegance to the script. The witness) to/of the speech” preposition n “to” and the verb di may again be written large to identify the type of text and point to the individual parts of the legal document. rather than recording their own speech.
In each copy of the text. more cursive.2). An example of orthographic variation is found in the writing of the phrase nt nb nt mtwÚy “everything which belongs to me. which becomes the typical Ptolemaic period writing of the phrase. (A.1). A starts with a large h≥sb.” mentioned above. as in all witness copies.
171
. the important key words are written larger than the rest of the text. the phrase in texts D (line 4) is damaged in parts. and (E. one can also see that a skilled scribe could use his brush to produce both thick and thin lines (e. old-fashioned the third line calligraphic hand (with touches of hieratic) while (from line 3 of text the witnesses wrote C). the man. is written in an elegant hand (line 2). EGyPTIAn DEMOTIC sCrIPT OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOn: CATAlOG nO. (D. pls. The variation between “early” and Ptolemaic handwriting is also seen in the word following this phrase. 14–19. the right-hand end) gives way to progressively lighter ink as the brush runs dry.t) “regnal year 7” About a third of the way along the first line is a followed. given the size and expense of the document. and wrote a much larger preposition n (texts (line A and B ). h≥nª “and”. The phrase mt. Especially good and careful scribes would make the effort to avoid such sharp differences in ink tone by dipping their brush less fully but more frequently while writing a text of this sort.. For example. a genitival preposition may or may not be written or the feminine ending t may be added to the number 7 in the regnal year date. documents reflecting an individual’s or family’s economic interests and transactions. table 9. which not only formed an important legal document for the family.t “regnal year 7. Especially in text A. The scribe by the scribe of text A (line 2) clarified the “man-withof text B hand-to-mouth” determinative. Ptolemaic form in text C .t n p| t| “any private/personal(ly owned) thing at all. after large d≤ “(so-and-so) said” the name and titles. jhj
published
Hughes and Jasnow 1997.g. line 6). but which also.e. immediately indicating to anyone seeing it what kind of text it is and physically pointing out the different parts of the legal document.

.

” by which part of a sign could stand for the entire sign could stand (e. However. Indeed..” by which a word could be written using a picture of something that had the same sound (e. but in the latest periods of Egyptian history many new signs were created and the corpus of hieroglyphs grew to several thousand signs (see. including direct representation. there was also a significant increase in the number of phonetic values that could be attributed to a single sign. its weak consonant.” by which multi-consonantal signs could retain only the value of their first consonant. dard writing of which was 4) The “pars pro toto principle. convolutions. Darnell 2004)..1
173
. Some of the ways through which signs could acquire their values were: 1) The “consonantal principle.
◊
—
3) The “rebus principle. if it is true that the use of cryptography reached its peak during the Greco-Roman period. as in the case of the . obscure puns. hence the writing for the whole eye instead of the verb m|| “to see” as . as early as the Old Kingdom. They were used during the Middle Kingdom and also occurred in contexts including the royal funerary compositions of the New Kingdom inscribed in tombs such as those of Tutankhamun and Ramesses VI (see. derivation from hieratic.” the stan).g. they are not only synonymous with difficulty.” by which multi-consonantal signs could retain only the value of their strongest consonant º .10. Moreover.
B
2) The “acrophonic principle.g. Daumas et al. their interpretation will be like exploring a terra incognita. e. º namely ı . could stand the sign for the letter w). it was not restricted to that era. the sign ≠from the word mn(t) “thigh” could stand for the phonogram mn(t) in the word mnmnt “herd of cattle. the number of signs commonly used by the scribes totaled about 760. but also and even more so with intense challenge and deep excitement.. sign a single word could also be written in various and complicated ways. but such a study is beyond the scope of the present discussion. and strange puzzles. 1988–1995). however. could (e. the sign of the pupil . If to the layman these signs will probably look like usual hieroglyphs..g. could also be at the origin of a sign’s value. It is in these early examples that the origins
T
of the principles of cryptography in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods must be sought. Concurrently. it was nonetheless logical and followed precise rules. e. sportive writings are attested. A hieroglyph that in classical Egyptian was read in one or a few ways could now have up to twenty or even thirty different readings. or the combination of several of the above-mentioned principles.g.g. making the script all the more difficult to decipher. to an uninitiated Egyptologist. usually read ı b..g. As unpredictable as such a system may seem at first sight. being dropped). during the Middle Kingdom and the beginning of the New Kingdom. What makes the signs so difficult to interpret is in fact the innovative approach used by scribes to apply old principles.. the sign stand for the letter b. . pTOLEMAiC hiErOgLyphS
franÇoiS GauDarD
he designation “Ptolemaic hieroglyphs” is used by Egyptologists to refer to the script employed by the scribes of Egyptian temples after the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great until the end of the second century ad. Also called figurative or cryptographic hieroglyphs.
} u }}
Other reasons. although rarely. usually identified as a pustule. and for good reasons. a more traditional writing being of ). Indeed. extreme complication. Their figurative nature misled early scholars into regarding the hieroglyphic script as purely symbolic. regardless of whether it was strong or weak (e. PTOlEMAIC hIErOGlyPhs
10. usually read wn.

already known from earlier periods.” nı wt “city. the signs themselves. first in the
≈
!
µ
ç 0
2
C
C
2
174
.” and rnpt “year.” nrıº “to fear. the new was read wpt-rnpt “New Year’s Day” (lit. the phrase “n in ı ” was said n m ı . As for the sign nothing but the standard writing of the letter n. On the basis of this etymology the god could be referred to as “the hidden one. Note that for symbolic reasons these three logograms appear as ph≥t. . A well-known example is the name of the Memphite creator god ç Ptah. with a single group of signs. making the words much more difficult to recognize. the name of the chief god of Thebes was hidden twice. By virtue of this principle of verbal analogy. Indeed. whose pronunciation was similar to that of the º word ı mn “to be hidden. there was also a significant increase in the number of phonetic values that could be attributed to a single sign. but the correct phonetic order. nr. and the sign t. t≤ . ty.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
One of the consequences of the application of these principles was a break with the traditional orthographic conventions. Similarly. nh≥ . One of the most convincing is the following (see Van Rinsveld 1993): the º . which could worthy is the sign of the head sfh .” nrt “vulture. note that n is in In the group º. simply because stand for the number seven ̆ the head has seven openings. . whose traditional writing µè Pth≥ is also atconsisting of tested under the cryptographic form pt “sky” standing for p. mwt. evoked the creation of the world performed by the god Ptah according to the Memphite Theology. š. the god l the sign t| “earth” for H˘h≥ “Heh” for è h≥. writings of the traditional title Ã∞ nsw-bıºty “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” µµ .” Another cryptogram of Amun.. Therefore. Another good example of wpt-rnpt were Wnn-nfrw “Onnophris. used for the word ı w “island. symbol of life (ªnh ). Given that the preposition “in” corresponds to ı º º m in Egyptian. . It also worked the other way around. As mentioned above. two nostrils. 3) wn and nfr] within a cartouche. This complicated process tended to be used in conjunction with a system by which the meaning of divine and geographical names. Thus.” which could be sider the word written Q–! . . št≤ y. in addition to being used for their phonetic values. two ears. let us conršwt “joy. namely pth≥ . separating the earth from the sky. the ancient priests realized that the system could be pushed one step further. but in Ptolemaic hieroglyphs the same sign could be read as the phonograms m. with the gods Re ( Q ) and Shu (– ) standing respectively for the sounds r and šw. Also note.” can also sign º . t. št|.” nt≤rt “goddess.” The use of new signs and innovative combinations of signs were also frequent. sign “the opening of the year”). tyw.” is the divine name a designation for Osiris that could display several new forms. d. for which various interpretacombination tions have been proposed.2 ̆ In a quest for virtuosity in their theological exegesis. and for the same reason numtp “head.” rmt≤ “man. the traditional readings of the vulture hieroglyph d were mt. could be explained through sacred etymologies based on puns. could also recall ideas and theological concepts.. the name of the god Amun ºImn. depending on the context. and the goddess Tefnut ( ! ) for the final t. the sign be read could be read tp “head” and the group sfh “seven.” and the vulture for rnpt “year. The ingenious selection and disdepicting the position of the signs in the group god Heh with upraised arms. 2) (two lotus flowers [respectively tus [nfr]). with the horns standing here for the word wpt “opening. n. by their very shape.” mkı “to protect. qd. . As a result. one could both read the name of Ptah (Pth≥) expressed in cryptographic form and be reminded of a major act of creation. or as the words wnm º º “right. Sometimes a single sign could even stand for renan entire phrase. was easy to restore for someone in the know. and a mouth.” ber seven could stand for the word Of course. For example. which was also the name of Amun written backº º wards (nmı for ı mn). As a matter of interest. For example.” Note that the traditional writings or. namely two eyes. and sometimes nr.” could also be written using the sign of the man hiding behind a wall % . including among others: 1) ´ (a desert hare [wn] holding the sign of the heart and wind(a flower [wn] within a coiled lopipe [nfr]).” ̆
r
r
r
˚
traditionally written ºŒ %Æ but replaced here with º a cat (mı ) wearing a solar disk (Rª) on its head and º giving (dı ) an ankh.” since traditional writings were used ̆ concurrently with new ones. with the variants and ). was the graphic . or were as various as .” mwt “mother. the vulture hieroglyph could be combined with the horns of an ox -. as in the case of the sign º º dering the phrase dı ªnh mı Rª “given life like Re. in particular. it is stand for the letter ı .

however.g. p.10. which could be referred to as “common. All of this suggests that the use of such a script should best be viewed as part of an intellectual game rather than as a deliberate will of occulting any secret lore. Texts of this latter type are well represented by two famous hymns inscribed in the hall of the temple of Esna in the late first century ad. One can in fact distinguish between two types of scripts: the first type. While it might be tempting at first to see this system as a means of concealing sacred knowledge from the uninitiated. idem 1945. complications. one of them being composed almost entirely with signs depicting a ram and the other with signs depicting a crocodile (see Leitz 2001). p. 51). pp. 52). see Meeks 2004.
notes
For further discussion. several indications
seem to point in a different direction. the reader may wonder about the motivations of the ancient scribes. since they “were effectively answerable in detail only to the gods” (Baines 2007. is extremely complicated and even an experienced Egyptologist is challenged (see Sauneron 1974. whose keepers’ boundless ingenuity and deep knowledge compel respect and admiration. whereas we are in fact dealing with the ultimate outcome of an age-old science. and sophisticated signs. 47).. When confronted with such a profusion of subtleties. p. texts written in such a script can generally be read without major difficulties. where each sign is carefully chosen. Some scholars wrongly considered Ptolemaic hieroglyphs to be a degenerate product of a civilization in decline. e. there was apparently no need to hide their content. see. As artificial and inaccurate as it may seem to modern eyes. x – xviii. Kurth 2007. while inscriptions of lesser importance were sometimes written in a highly cryptographic one (see Sauneron 1982. but once these are known. important theological texts could be composed in a perfectly accessible script. The other type of script. which perfectly fits the above-mentioned ing nmı etymology of his name. PTOlEMAIC hIErOGlyPhs
cryptogram and again in the retrograde writº. this method was nonetheless extremely popular during all periods of Egyptian history. the Ptolemaic hieroglyphic script could exhibit greater or lesser degrees of complication. several of the texts inscribed in temples remained illegible to the visitor and were obviously not meant to be read (see Sauneron 1982. 46). making such an explanation rather unlikely. Moreover.” includes a certain percentage of new signs and phonetic values. 2 On the process of creating of new signs from older signs by assimilation or amalgam and on the influence of hieratic on the hieroglyphic script.
1
175
. compare also Fairman 1943. Depending on the nature of the texts. p. due to their placement high on the walls. Indeed. For this reason.

The texts on this shroud exhibit cryptographic writings, also called sportive writings, characteristic of the Ptolemaic and Roman periods. At that time, mummies could be
176

wrapped in painted funerary shrouds. Unlike most shrouds from the Roman period, which tend to combine Greek and Egyptian influences, the present one is truly Egyptian in style. Its

10. DEsCrIPTIOn: CATAlOG nO. OBJECTPTOlEMAIC hIErOGlyPhs 86

design is reminiscent of some Third Intermediate Period cartonnage coffin decoration. It displays columns of text as well as protective deities. The style, the paint colors, and the level of detail and complexity of the inscriptions seem more in keeping with an earlier rather than a later date, which would favor a Ptolemaic dating. Only part of the decoration of the right side is preserved: Isis (upper register) and her sister Nephthys (lower register) are depicted as two kites to recall their role as mourners of the dead Osiris, with whom the deceased was identified. Isis is referred to as “the excellent god’s mother” as an allusion to the fact that she is the mother of Horus, and Nephthys is called “the foremost.” Both are said to be “offering the breath of life.” Between them, one can see a representation of a lozenge-pattern bead net, which often covered mummies in earlier periods. Despite their fragmentary condition, the texts of the present shroud, consisting mainly of offering formulae, are of particular interest. Indeed, they provide us with both unusual epithets of Osiris and some good examples of cryptography. Worth noting are the writing of (e.g., the epithet mwt-nt≤r “god’s mother” as right and left columns) instead of the regular formôd , and that of the adjective wr “great” µ . Also characteristic as Õó (left column) for µ is the word hnty “foremost” written 5ó (center ̆ . However, the and left columns) for most interesting and innovative example is by º far the cryptographic writing of the word ı mntyw (bottom of center column) “westerners” as ∆ . In this group, the sign instead of üX or , which usually stands for the letter n, reads º represent the number fifty, ı mn, while the signs which was pronounced tyw. Note that a more º regular writing of the word ı mntyw occurs at the bottom of the right column and is written with a variant of sign , itself a variant of ü , followed by determinatives and plural strokes.1 fg

translation
Center column (reading right to left, top to bottom):
“[…]… the offering-bread of the wabet 2 for Anubis, from among the bread of Osiris, 3 foremost of the westerners, the perfect youth …[…]”

Left column (reading right to left, top to bottom):
[“… (to) Osiris, lord of] Abydos, the Great-Pillar, foremost of Dendera, (to) Isis, the great, the foremost, the god’s mother […]”4

Right column (reading left to right, top to bottom):
“[…] to Horus, consisting of bread, consisting of beer of the god’s mother (and) bread of Osiris of (?) …[…]…, lord of the westerners […]”

Lower bird, between wings:
“offering every breath of life, the foremost.”

C

notes
I would like to thank Eugene Cruz-Uribe, Christina Riggs, Robert Ritner, and Emily Teeter for their comments, as well as Laura D’Alessandro and Alison Whyte for providing technical information on the shroud. Special thanks also go to John Sanders, Thomas Urban, Leslie Schramer, and Natalie Whiting. 2 For discussion and references on the wabet “Pure Place,” see, for example, Wilson 1997, p. 214; Coppens 2007. 3 An alternative rendering of this passage could be “from among the bread of the loaves of Osiris.” 4 For an exact parallel to the text of this column on a stela whose provenance is also Dendera, see De Meulenaere 1973, pp. 56–59, fig. 3 (= stela E. 8242, lines 1–2).
1

177

11. COPTIC

11. COpTiC
t. G. wilfonG
optic is the latest phase of the ancient Egyptian language. Grammatically, Coptic is closest to Demotic, but Coptic script marks a major departure for ancient Egyptian in that it is written solely with alphabetic signs. The earliest attempts at using an alphabet for Egyptian simply used Greek letters. Greek was the administrative language of Egypt from 332 bc onward and became common as a language of business and everyday life. Early experiments with alphabetic writing of Egyptian include explanatory glosses, rendering Egyptian words phonetically in Greek letters, in a few hieratic (cursive hieroglyphic) religious texts, and Demotic magical texts from the second century ad alongside a handful of Egyptian language texts written entirely in Greek letters. These texts show the advantages of using an alphabetic system (simplicity and precise indication of vowel sounds), but also show the limitations of using an unaltered Greek alphabet, in that Egyptian contained sounds not represented in Greek. Thus the Coptic alphabet, consisting of all twenty-four Greek letters plus six (or seven or more, depending on dialect) signs derived from Demotic, developed in the second and third centuries ad (fig. 11.1). Coptic, like Greek, was written from left to right only, marking a major departure from Demotic and hieroglyphs. Coptic developed as Christianity was becoming an important force in Egyptian life, and the Coptic alphabet’s relative lack of similarity to the

C

earlier “pagan” systems of writing made it attractive to this burgeoning religion. Indeed, the formation of Coptic as a literary language and means of expression owed much to the early translation of the Greek New Testament into Coptic as well as to the growth of monastic writers such as Pachomius and Shenoute, who pushed Coptic into new realms of expression and rhetoric. Coptic and Greek shared related scripts, and, for much of its history, Coptic co-existed in Egypt with Greek through the Arab Conquest of ad 641, and many literate Egyptians would have been bilingual. The rapid disappearance of Greek after the conquest and the relative increase in Coptic in the following centuries raise questions about just how deep this bilingualism went. Ultimately, Coptic was replaced as a language and script of business and daily life by Arabic — the ninth and tenth centuries saw a major decline in the everyday use of written Coptic, and it was effectively supplanted by Arabic for most uses by the eleventh century. But Coptic continued, and continues to this day, as a script and language of literature and liturgy in the Coptic church — no longer a living language (although there have been sporadic attempts in the past century at revival), but still an important part of Christianity in Egypt and, thanks to the large Coptic expatriate communities, throughout the world.

a

b g

d

e

z

ā

th i/y k l

m n

ks o

p

r

s

t u/w ph kh ps ō

š

f

h

č

ky ty

figure 11.1. The Coptic alphabet and English pronunciation

179

7 x 11. Both of these otherwise different kinds of —a document begins with a crossed rho standard beginning for any documentary text in Coptic. 1964. Shorter documents. uncial scripts with the individual letters kept mostly separate. Both are documents of daily
180
life from individuals and share other common features. slip.
. hughes. were often written in ink on sherds of pottery or chips of limestone. but they show markedly different styles of writing. 87 and 88) come from roughly the same period in the western Theban region. but script styles varied depending on the type of document and training of the scribe. highly cursive script. from after the Arab Conquest in ad 641. ad 719 Acquired in Egypt. with frequent use of ligatures (combinations and joinings of letters) and abbreviations. Less official documents by non-professional scribes and literary texts tended to be written in non-cursive. Gift of George r. as a mark of the writer being Christian.1 x 1.8 cm OIM E30025
87
Coptic was written in a standard alphabetic system. perhaps all the more important in documents such as these. These two Coptic ostraca (Catalog Nos.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. 1986 13. oStracon with curSive coptic Script
Baked clay. 87–88
87. Official documents written by professional scribes tended to be written in a relatively standardized. ca. such as receipts and personal letters like these. ink January 28.

Hasitzka 2004. 87 is a tax receipt from the town of Jeme (the village built in and around the pharaonic temple at Medinet Habu) written in a cursive.” a poll tax levied
. The type of tax is not specified in the receipt.35 cm OIM E30024
88
Catalog No. no. 1013). ink seventh–eighth centuries ad Acquired in Egypt. p. 92–93. To understand the value (and burden) of such a tax payment. ca. ad 710–730) on a specific kind of pottery (fine ware with a buff or reddish slip). son of Johannes. 87 records the payment of an unspecified tax by a man named Aaron. 1964. COPTIC OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. Hundreds of similar tax receipts survive from Jeme (many found during the Oriental Institute’s excavations at Medinet Habu) and nearly all were written within a twenty-year period (ca. professional scribal hand (Wilfong 1992. it may help to know that a solidus could buy ten to fifteen bushels of wheat. 1986 15.11. while a house at Jeme in this period might cost between four and eight solidi (Wilfong 2003–04). So a solidus was a substantial amount for the average Jeme inhabitant. pp. in the amount of a “reckoned solidus. a “reckoned solidus” would be a payment consisting of lower-denomination coins totaling a solidus. oStracon with uncial coptic Script
Baked clay. Gift of George r. but the amount makes it likely that the tax was the “diagraphon. Catalog No.8 x 1.5 x 10. 87–88 88.” A solidus (also
181
known as a holokottinos and roughly equivalent to the Arab dinar) was the highest denomination of gold coin in circulation at the time. 121. hughes.

consisting entirely of substance and expressing some emotion.
translation
Here is a reckoned solidus. as witness and the even betterknown Jeme headman Petros as signatory allows us to date the ostracon more precisely to ad 719.
Catalog No. 51. The writer expresses clear irritation with Pkamê for not supplying this wheat sooner (he does so with a combination of word choice and the use of a special Coptic grammatical construction. either because of its relative availability or because the ribs in the pottery served as useful guidelines for less-practiced scribes. and not an absolute date. “Farewell in the lord. most probably from a wine amphora. sign this receipt. Written in the month of Mechir. Monks of all sorts relied on family and friends for basic supplies and support. is a rare document indeed.” to indicate emphasis). Note how the last lines show the witness Psan’s pen running out of ink — clearly he did not want to have to take the time to dip his pen again to finish. it is ambiguous whether the writer or the bearer is referred to in the phrase “from Kyriakos. gives only its place in a repeating indiction cycle.” in theory. Groups of Jeme tax receipts issued on the same day with the same signatures but to different taxpayers suggest that taxes were paid en masse at all-day sessions. I.” The use of someone to deliver the ostracon and pick up the wheat suggests that the writer was in a monastery or solitary monastic cell that he could not leave. p. the village headman. day 2. written in a non-cursive. It has come to me from you — Aaron son of Johannes — in the first payment of this second year. Petros. Personal letters were often written on ribbed pottery. but was literate and somewhat practiced. Farewell in the lord. and possibly even a solitary monk living in the ancient tombs in the western Theban hills.
tgw
182
. and the author of this letter was clearly dependent on Pkamê. this document’s date to “year 2. The pottery on which this letter was written is relatively coarse. 90– 91. 88 is a personal letter. The closing of the letter. Taxes were levied locally to meet expected payments to the Arab administrators of Egypt on a fifteen-year tax cycle known as the “indiction. 87–88 vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
on adult male non-Muslims in Egypt after the Arab Conquest. in asking Pkamê to hand over the wheat to the bearer of “this ostracon. pp. uncial hand (Wilfong 1992. Total: 1 reckoned solidus. be so good as to send them to me through the man who will bring this ostracon to you. The writer was not a professional administrative scribe. no. I am Psan. Stop! You have been negligent in this matter! Give it to Pkamê from Kyriakos.” The ostracon is being carried on behalf of the writer to Pkamê by a third party. son of Basileos. the recipient. But the presence of the well-known Psan. Hasitzka 2004. and I witnessed this receipt. Thus. The writer refers to the letter itself. he asked me. the “second tense.
translation
Since you have left me only in order that you should send the four artaba measures of wheat to me. for a supply of four artabas of wheat (an artaba in this period was somewhat more than a bushel). son of Basilios. and Pkamê was in Jeme or a nearby village.” is a standard ending for personal letters in Coptic. Indiction year 2.OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. Coptic personal letters are so often formulaic expressions of conventional greetings that a letter like this.” instituted in the early fourth century ad under Byzantine rule. ribbed ware.
The writer was most likely a monk. 904).

by the exclusive writing of consonants.” a word that also comes to be the name of the letter.12. Due to the lack of stratified archaeological contexts for these finds. one should not suppose that a simpler writing system led automatically to a high level of literacy. In contrast to logographic systems. The Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions. Devanagari. Flinders Petrie in 1905 (and supplemented by additional finds in subsequent decades). an ancient Egyptian mining site in the Sinai Peninsula.1). in which a sign represents a full syllable of sound. the Modern Hebrew name for the corresponding letter is precisely kaph. (For comparison. whereas logographic and syllabic systems have on the order of hundreds. first discovered2 by W. though some scholars place them as early as the beginning of the second millennium bc (Dynasty 12 in Egypt) on the basis of associated Egyptian material as well as historical considerations. with the notable exceptions of Chinese and Japanese. ThE InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET
12. and rock faces at Serabit el-Khadem. While the two other dominant systems of writing that were invented in the Middle East — Mesopotamian cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphs — eventually died out along with their associated cultures (thus requiring them to be deciphered by modern scholars). the sign for a hand is used to denote the /k/ sound through the West Semitic word kaph for “palm” or “hand. For instance. Cyrillic. as is sometimes suggested. and Bengali) that are ultimately descended from the linear West Semitic alphabet. most if not all of these earliest pictographs have plausible connections to Egyptian hieroglyphic (and perhaps hieratic) symbols. 12. Perso-Arabic. the shortest contrastive units of sound in a language (consonants or vowels). alphabetic writing is characterized by the graphic representation of phonemes. At the same time. On the other hand. no immediate correlation can be made between alphabetic writing and broad literacy. As a consequence. thereby greatly decreasing the number of signs. While it certainly seems reasonable to assume that the invention of the alphabet made the process of scribal training much easier. that is. absolute dates have proven difficult to establish. wherein every syllable begins with a consonant. incidentally. This would no doubt have made the system easier to learn and master. ThE iNVENTiON ANd dEVELOpMENT OF ThE ALphABET
JoSeph lam
O
f the various writing systems that emerged out of the ancient Middle East. The earliest evidence for alphabetic writing comes from the second millennium bc in the Sinai and Egypt.1 In fact. M. 5 implying that the inventors were influenced at some level by Egyptian writing (see fig. The earliest West Semitic alphabet was characterized. The latter is a process that takes years even in modern times and is connected to a whole host of factors such as access to education and the
189
functional role of writing in society. consist of linear pictographic symbols inscribed on statuettes. typical alphabetic systems have on the order of tens of signs. a system that exploits a feature in the phonological structure of all Semitic languages. in the mid-1990s. the phonemes represented by these symbols are derived from the West Semitic (and not Egyptian) words behind the pictographs. More recently. Arabic. two single-line rock inscriptions were discovered at the desert site of Wadi el-Hol. On the one hand. the most common languages of the world utilize alphabetic scripts (Latin. stone panels.4 The hybrid nature of these earliest signs gives us clues regarding the sociohistorical context for the origins of the alphabet. Learning a script is not the same as learning to read and write. note
. the alphabet has undoubtedly exerted the most lasting influence. In fact. in which a given symbol denotes a word. alphabetic systems of writing have remained in use without interruption into modern times and are pervasive in the world today. 3 in a script that strongly resembles the Proto-Sinaitic texts. or to syllabic writing. near Thebes in Upper Egypt. it is doubtful whether literacy was at all a necessary skill for the vast proportion of people in antiquity. The functional advantage of the alphabet over other writing systems lies in its economy.

signs traced from digital photograph by the author (6) Mesha stela (ninth century bc). builders. and correspondences follow the suggestions of hamilton 2006 (3) Proto-sinaitic stone plaque from serabit el-Khadem (sinai 375a = Catalog no. shapes drawn from the sign list of Gardiner 1957. signs traced from digital photograph by the author (8) Greek letters (with names in parentheses)
figure 12. Though the paucity (and intractability) of the evidence prevents us from being too dogmatic on the details. 7
(5) El-Khadr Arrowhead #2 (Catalog no. 8 The presence of Asiatics in Egypt as various kinds of workers (e. script correspondence chart of select alphabetic signs
also the Greek letter name kappa. what we can assert with reasonable confidence is that the alphabet was invented among Semitic speakers in the Egyptian realm.) This association of the letter name (kaph) with its initial phoneme (/k/) is called the acrophonic principle (acro. 90) in the Old hebrew script.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
(1) west semitic letter name (with meaning in parentheses) (2) Possible Egyptian hieroglyphic prototype. inspired iconographically by hieroglyphic writing but not bound by its modes of expression.) in the Middle Kingdom is well documented and would furnish the broader sociohistorical backdrop for this remarkable innovation. 91). sign shapes drawn after Kochavi 1977..7 The presence of Egyptian inscriptions in the vicinity of either Serabit el-Khadem or Wadi el-Hol would have provided sufficient impetus for such an invention to
190
occur.1. mercenaries. signs traced from digital photograph by the author (4) Izbet sartah ostracon. In fact. if in fact one of these sites represents the ultimate place of origin. it is based on this assumption that the Sinai inscriptions have been partially deciphered. 6 revealing intelligible phrases such as lbªlt (“for the Lady”) and rb nqbnm (“chief of the miners”). miners.“topmost” + phone “voice.
. sound”).g. in the Moabite script (highly resembling the Old hebrew script). etc. and the fact that it is via the Semitic vocabulary that such a principle operates suggests that the linear alphabet arose for the purpose of writing a Semitic language. 89). signs traced from digital photograph by the author (7) Incised ostracon from samaria (Catalog no. p.

such as those found at el-Khadr near Bethlehem (Catalog No. ugaritic abecedary from ras shamra (rs 12. the ugaritic alphabet and hebrew correspondences
191
. While the earliest datable Proto-Canaanite inscription. in the region of modern Syria. scale 1:1) and below. Among the roughly two thousand Ugaritic texts (Bordreuil and Pardee 2004. used in the context of scribal training. in the ancient city of Ugarit (ca.2. on the Mediterranean coast (near modern Latakia). 91). part of which represents the earliest-known linear “abecedary” (a
sequential writing out of all the alphabetic letters). This system. was used not only for writing texts of all genres in the local West Semitic language of Ugaritic.g. the presumed context of the alphabet’s invention. First. can be attributed to the seventeenth century bc on archaeological grounds. one can observe a gradual evolution away from purely pictographic shapes to more abstract. 20) discovered at the site to date are a number of abecedaries. we find a fully functioning alphabetic system utilizing cuneiform signs (wedges impressed with a stylus on clay) rather than linear characters.11 North of Palestine. their context in Palestine puts them one step removed geographically from the Egyptian sphere. little direct evidence exists for the linear alphabet before the first millennium bc . and a number of inscribed arrowheads from different locations. p. some of which do have secure archaeological contexts. an umbrella term for a diverse and fragmentary group of texts (inscribed on pottery and other objects) hailing from various sites in Palestine. which appears not to have been based on Sumero-Akkadian syllabic cuneiform. two tentative reasons can be adduced for placing these later than the inscriptions from Serabit el-Khadem and Wadi el-Hol. several objects from Lachish. the Lachish Dagger (a highly pictographic four-sign inscription).12
figure 12. ThE InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET
Another collection of data coming from the second millennium is the Proto-Canaanite inscriptions. At the site of Ras Shamra. thirteenth century bc ). but occasionally for other languages as well (e. Second. and other pottery sherds.12. 10 Among these are the Izbet Sartah ostracon.063. however.9 the majority of the Proto-Canaanite objects come from the thirteenth century and later. including an “ewer” (a pitcher in the shape of a vase). Hurrian).. Though the archaeological evidence overall is spotty and inconclusive. here we have additional data of a different kind. stylized forms. a bowl. within the Proto-Canaanite texts.

2). 137
figure 12. while the direction of writing and orientation of letters remained stable. at least two of the signs (the “archaic” forms of {g} and of {s }.2440. 196 (3) Ahiram sarcophagus (Early Phoenician. they did not create additional symbols for phonemes in their languages that were absent in Phoenician. would
192
have been added to accommodate the particular needs of scribal writing at Ugarit.14 With the turn of the first millennium bc came the stabilization of the alphabet in terms of the orientation of the letters and the direction of writing (right to left). As already intimated. In any case.
shapes based on photographs in Pardee 2007. the shapes of the
. they simply utilized the twenty-two available signs. making practical accommodation where necessary. p. (The last three signs. it is not unreasonable to surmise that a linear alphabet of twenty-seven signs was also used in the northern Levant during this period. Whether this was due to the perceived prestige of the Phoenician script or some other reason is difficult to ascertain. This alphabet consisted of thirty signs. leaving aside of course the five phonemes present in Ugaritic but not preserved in later Phoenician. Moreover. 13 What is notable is that the order of the first twenty-seven signs (º. b.3. this is generally associated with the Phoenicians.) The twentytwo–letter alphabet would then represent a simplification of this earlier system. ca. line 4.111. and that the Ugaritic alphabet was a conceptual adaptation of it for cuneiform writing.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
(1) Alphabetic sign (2) ugaritic archaic forms: two-wedged gimel is from rs 15. p. 12.. while #30 was probably a borrowing of an alternate form of samekh from contemporary Canaanite). 1000 bc) shapes based on Dussaud 1924. in keeping with the phonetic merging of various consonants occurring in later West Semitic. Comparison between the “archaic” forms of two ugaritic
cuneiform signs and their linear alphabetic counterparts
which give us a glimpse into the Ugaritians’ own internal conception of the alphabet (fig. 12. and four-wedged samekh is after rs 94. For these reasons.. with the first twenty-seven representing distinct consonantal phonemes. When Hebrew and Aramaic speakers adopted this alphabet for their own texts. second Abecedary. the ̀ aforementioned sign #30) can be seen as cuneiform imitations of their corresponding linear alphabetic counterparts (see fig.) is consistent with the twenty-two–letter alphabetic order attested in the first millennium. g . #28–30.3). since the twenty-two–letter system that came as the result of this stabilization corresponds exactly to the phonemic inventory of the Phoenician language. and the last three being variations on two of the other phonemes (#28 and #29 in the sequence were variants of ºaleph [sign #1 in the alphabet].

p. 2005. stating that “[a] few of the early alphabetic writers may have had some. p. began to be used for writing Hebrew sometime in the Second Temple period and became the standard Jewish script (and is now used for Modern Hebrew). Such a hypothesis certainly has its merits. 269–75) insists on the derivation from both hieroglyphic and hieratic signs. a scenario that would fit well with the appearance of the oldest Greek inscriptions in the eighth century bc. 5 Hamilton (2006. some scholars have argued for an earlier divergence from Proto-Canaanite (in the eleventh century). 48–49. 1850–1700 bce” based on associated inscriptions in Egyptian. At the other extreme. albeit tentative. 7 For a summary of possible readings in the Proto-Sinaitic texts. the familiar “square” script. 2008). The strongest challenge to this consensus in recent years has been Benjamin Sass (2004–05. there is more direct evidence. p. 16 At the same time. 131–34) posit a Middle Kingdom context for both the Serabit el-Khadem and Wadi el-Hol texts. an ` “affricate” denotes a class of speech sounds consisting of an initial stop followed by a release of air through a narrow passage. 135) holds that the inventors of the alphabet were not trained in Egyptian hieroglyphic writing and merely used it as an iconic model. while the earliest Epigraphic South Arabian texts come also from the beginning of the first millennium (ca. reminds us of the still-partial nature of our current knowledge of the origins of the alphabet. sporadic evidence of this kind. giving birth to distinct Hebrew and Aramaic scripts. pp. However. or in boustrophedon” (a kind of writing in which lines alternate between left-right and right-left orientation). 90) attribute the Wadi el-Hol inscriptions to “ca. This evidence comes in the form of two abecedaries in the cuneiform alphabetic script. who has argued for a fourteenth–century genesis of the alphabet. 90) assert that these early inscriptions attest to a “fairly high degree of literacy in Egyptian. or from left to right. pp. acknowledges that “the Lachish dagger … is the sole object among the [ProtoCanaanite finds] whose Middle Bronze pedigree is beyond reproach. especially the chart on p. pp. pp. The first-millennium stabilization of the alphabet in Canaan relates also to questions concerning the spread of alphabet writing to the Greeks and to the Arabian Peninsula. see Milik and Cross 1954. 3 These inscriptions were discovered during the 1994–95 season of the Theban Desert Road Survey led by John Darnell (Darnell et al. eighth century bc ). Darnell and colleagues (2005. Darnell and colleagues (2005. In particular. pp. 150). perhaps amateurish. the Proto-Semitic reflex of samekh had already been deaffricated in Ugaritic (represented by sign #19). 8 Goldwasser (2006. According to classical tradition. 2 I refer here to the first modern archaeological excavation of the material. 151–56. but not much scribal training … [while] the rest [of the texts] appear to be of non-scribal quality. ThE InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET
letters continued to develop over the course of the first millennium. pp. p. (In linguistics. 4 For instance.” Hamilton (2006. p.12. as with the /ch/ sound in the English word chat. 6 This decipherment was first achieved in brilliant fashion by Gardiner (1916). 155. which grew out of the Aramaic script tradition. 15 Naveh (1973. 11 On the el-Khadr arrowheads. p. who has put forward the possibility of a fourteenth-century date for the beginnings of the alphabet.
1
193
.18 These admittedly slender pieces of evidence nevertheless provide a point of contact between Proto-Canaanite and a possible Proto-South Arabian alphabetic tradition in the mid-second millennium. the Greek alphabet was borrowed from the Phoenicians. to suggest a possible branching off of the South Arabian alphabet17 from Proto-Canaanite in the second millennium bc.) 14 For a much fuller discussion of these various points. 1) observes that “the archaic Greeks wrote in horizontal lines either from right to left. 46–49. see Sass 1988. see Hawley 2008. l. but to the so-called halah≥am order (h.” 10 See Sass 1988. see Pardee 2007. though McCarter (1974.” 9 Even Benjamin Sass (2004–05. 12 For a discussion of the Ugaritic abecedaries and their function. p. p. 13 According to Tropper (2000. conforming not to the familiar abgad order. 293) adopts an intermediate position. and so sign #30 was created to denote the affricate /s / in foreign and loan words. m …) known from much later South Arabian attestation. tantalizing as it is. based on multi-directionality in early Greek writing 15 (possibly implying that the transmission happened before the right-to-left direction became fixed) and on common characteristics in letter shapes.
notes
A helpful correction to some misconceptions regarding alphabetic writing and literacy can be found in Rollston 2006. Similarly. h≥. and perhaps other separate orthographic traditions as well. others such as Orly Goldwasser (2006. More importantly. 43–44). but it cannot be embraced unreservedly until further inscriptional data emerge in support of it. one from Ugarit and one from Beth Shemesh in Palestine. an understanding that is sure to be refined in the future as further archaeological discoveries yield new surprises. 73). 56) notes how inscriptions from the area were known from at least the sixth century ad onward.

1:4. 17–18. shortly before 722 bc Israel.1
The text on this arrowhead.6 cm hsM 1978. 89–94 InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET 90.
90
91. 197
. pp.” jl
91
published
Milik and Cross 1954.
arrowhead inScribed in proto-canaanite
Bronze Twelfth–eleventh century bc Israel/west Bank Purchased in Jerusalem. jl
published
Birnbaum 1957.0 x 1.0 x 1.1.9.3 cm hsM 1934.7 x 0.5 x 6. 303–08. 49. is written in a script that represents a transitional stage between Proto-Canaanite and early Phoenician. samaria 6. incised in the Old Hebrew script of the first millennium bc. sherd 4. one among a group of exemplars originating from el-Khadr near Bethlehem.1
This sherd (part of a bowl) contains a list of names. 1953 9. The inscription reads: “arrow of ªBDLBT.12. ThEOBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. no. pl. pp. oStracon with old hebrew text Baked clay Iron Age II. Milik and Cross 2003.

0 x 22.1.18
The monumental South Arabian script seen here consists of twenty-nine signs representing twenty-nine consonantal values.
198
. yemen 25. jl
published
Huehnergard 2000. Though this particular text is only a fragment.
old South arabian (minaean) inScription
stone fifth–second century bc Purchased in sana‘a.0 cm hsM 1936. the most of any Semitic alphabet.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. it appears to describe a series of building activities.8 x 8. 89–94
92
92.

The text proceeds in a spiral (clockwise from the center) and contains a spell for protecting the owner’s house against various demons and afflictions.12. The presence of holes in the bottom is unusual for this kind of incantation bowl. third–seventh century ad Iraq. exemplifies the use of the Aramaic “square” script. Khafajah 18. 199
.4 x 4.
aramaic incantation bowl
Baked clay sasanian. 89–94 InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET
93
93. jl
published
Cook 1992. ThEOBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.1 cm OIM A17877
The incantation on this bowl. written in Jewish Babylonian Aramaic.

incantation in cuneiform and greek alphabet Clay first century bc Purchased 11. the shapes of the individual characters — suggests that these texts probably date between roughly 50 bc and ad 50. and the nature of scribal training at the very end of the cuneiform era. obverse
This remarkable text is one of the best-preserved examples of a tablet inscribed with cuneiform on the obverse. known as the Graeco-Babyloniaca. and an accompanying Greek transcription on the reverse.2 cm hsM 1893. the reverse contains a phonetic rendering of the Akkadian written with the Greek alphabet.This small corpus of school tablets. Although Akkadian had likely
. 89–94 94. representing either Sumerian or Akkadian. the cultural context of these tablets.5.0 x 8. The paleography of the Greek letters — that is.39
94. The obverse of this particular tablet contains
200
an Akkadian magical text known as a zi-pad3 incantation.5 x 3. these tablets provide fascinating glimpses into the pronunciation of the Sumerian and Akkadian languages. That beginning scribal students endeavored to transcribe Akkadian into Greek raises a number of intriguing questions regarding the scribal milieu.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. dates to the end of the cuneiform tradition at the turn of the current era. Furthermore.

cw
published
Geller 1983. ThEOBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.
201
. 89–94 InvEnTIOn AnD DEvElOPMEnT Of ThE AlPhABET
94. reflecting the language’s distinct phonemic inventory and pronunciation — a remarkable fact indeed given that Sumerian had not been spoken in nearly two millennia. The transcription conventions for Sumerian were different. attesting to the perseverance of the ancient.12. the Greek transcriptions reveal a number of archaisms that typify older phases of the language. reverse
ceased to exist as a spoken language centuries prior to the writing of these texts. oral scribal tradition.

.

The Anatolian hieroglyphic script functioned as a writing system in present-day Turkey and northern Syria between approximately 1400 and 700 bc. face the beginning of the line regardless of the direction of writing).” edere “eat. however. which would refer to their meaning rather than phonetic structure.. Historians and archaeologists occasionally continue to employ this term. ANATOLiAN hiErOgLyphiC wriTiNg
ilya yakubovich
natolian hieroglyphs are not to be confused with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Since we do not know the pronunciation of many Luwian words written with logograms. its own drawbacks since the script was not created for writing Luwian. One should also keep in mind that a number of Anatolian hieroglyphic signs have cursive shapes. and if a particular line is written right to left.” Determinatives (or determiners) are frequently the same signs as logograms. and vice versa.” e. Phonetic signs were most commonly deployed not for recording individual sounds. like heads. To make things even more complicated. It has. but distinct from Hittite. logograms.g. In some cases. The term “Hittite hieroglyphs” was used in the late nineteenth century. then the next one is written left to right. different signs could be used for the same syllable: thus. The main features that the two scripts have in common include their use for carving texts on monumental objects and a large number of pictorial signs.13. the two writing systems were used in different parts of the ancient Middle East and are not related to one another. Anatolian hieroglyphic inscriptions do not have a fixed direction of writing. no less than seven signs could be used to write sa. The Anatolian hieroglyphic script is known under various names. and reflects the use of this writing system in the Bronze Age Hittite empire and the Early Iron Age Neo-Hittite states. Usually. and determinatives. In Anatolia. a language closely related to. The first-known specimens of Anatolian hieroglyphic writing come from the central Anatolian kingdom of the Hittites after the introduction of the Mesopotamian cuneiform to this region.” and thus individual words are likely to form two-dimensional clusters. and the earliest inscription could be read in either Luwian or Hittite. For example. dominus “lord. the logogram tonitrus “Storm god” is usually written with the unpronounced determinative deus “god. It seemed odd to a number of scholars that this highly original and complicated writing system was developed in competition with an established form
. but from the linguistic point of view it is inaccurate. but for rendering whole syllables of the structure “consonant+vowel. as explained below. a text is divided into horizontal lines. pa. su. AnATOlIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG
13. and their shapes reminded the readers of the meanings of the respective words. There are three main types of Anatolian hieroglyphs: phonetic signs. ti. Scholars refer to this type of writing as boustrophedonic. meaning that the text moves along like an ox plowing a field. which occasionally creep into the monumental inscriptions. as in Egypt.
203
A
Logograms were special signs reser ved for high frequency words. Nevertheless. when scholars had little knowledge about the languages of the area.” and the combination of the two signs is rendered in transliteration as (deus) tonitrus. many signs were used for writing whole words.” sub “under. Because of this practice. The more adequate term “Luwian hieroglyphs” has become more popular in the recent years among philologists. but do not stand for particular spoken words. The designation “Anatolian hieroglyphs” has the advantage of being linguistically neutral. since the longer hieroglyphic inscriptions are all written in Luwian. that is to say clearly distinguishing between the script and the languages with which it is associated. being instead appended in writing in order to clarify the meaning of other words. the current convention is to use Latin capitals for writing logograms. and since a number of specialists in Anatolian hieroglyphs happen to be classicists by training. the signs in odd and even lines of a text look like mirror images of one another (asymmetrical signs. for example. each line tends to be two or three symbols “thick.

that is.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Transcription
Transliteration
|wa/i-mu wa-mu And-me
|á-mi-zi-i aminzi my
|tá-ti-zi tatinzi paternal
deus-ni-zi-i
|(lituus)á-za-ta azanta loved
masaninzi gods
Translation
“My paternal gods loved me”
This is a quotation from a monumental decree of Halparuntiya. the linguistic analysis of the Anatolian hieroglyphic script supports the hypothesis that they originated in the HittiteLuwian bilingual environment of central Anatolia. In the lines above. symbol of authority in the ancient Middle East). On the other hand.
of writing. which is otherwise generally placed in front of verbs and nouns related to cognition and perception. á and tá are condidered to be the second signs to have the values a and ta respectively. and translations. It was. suggested that the Anatolian hieroglyphs must have originally been invented somewhere else. The most obvious parallel for a new script marking a new cultural identity in the ancient Middle East is the invention of the Old Persian cuneiform at the court of the first Achaemenid kings (ca. This happened at the time when
. The verb aza. a new writing system may be created not for pragmatic reasons but as a way of expressing nationalistic
204
sentiments. The sign . transliterations. and only later borrowed by the Hittites (Hawkins 1986). the logogram = deus “god” is accompanied by the phonetic complement ni-zi-i indicating the plural number. In my opinion. marked in transliteration by the vertical line | is a word-divider used with various degrees of consistency in individual inscriptions. 520 bc). for example. Note that n is systematically omitted in writing in the middle of words before consonants. therefore. individual words recorded in Anatolian hieroglyphs are aligned with their sign-by-sign transcriptions. this hypothesis is neither logically necessary nor empirically plausible.“to love” is preceded by the determinative = lituus (graphically a crooked staff. The slanted line above the transliteration á and tá represents a modern convention for distinguishing homonyms. in the western Anatolian kingdom of Arzawa. Thus. On the one hand. This example is sufficient to demonstrate the principal structural peculiarities of the Anatolian hieroglyphic script. late ninth-century bc ruler of the Neo-Hittite kingdom of Gurgum in southwestern Turkey.

It is common for many archaic scripts to use pictograms as phonetic signs in such a way that the beginning of a word depicted by a pictogram constitutes its derived sound value.13. individual symbols begin to be combined with each other for the purpose of rendering simple messages. since *kapp “(palm of) hand” begins with the sound k. The stamp and cylinder seals from Anatolia and northern Syria dating back to 2000–1700 bc already feature a number of symbols that will later constitute a part of the Anatolian hieroglyphic inventory (Catalog No. the letter b depicts a house. emerges as the most likely venue for the phonetic elaboration of Anatolian hieroglyphs (Yakubovich 2009). the change of a written language would represent a sufficient statement of nationalistic self-assertion. The final step. Therefore fourteenth-century Hattusa. The seal of the western Anatolian king Targasnawa. Presumably. the short inscriptions on stamp seals largely consisted of personal names and. in the early Canaanite alphabet. The analysis of Anatolian hieroglyphs suggests that some of the pictograms derive their phonetic values from the Hittite language. Three bilingual inscriptions are to be highlighted in connection with the decipherment of the Anatolian hieroglyphic script. made in the thirteenth century bc. k is a pictogram depicting a hand. After the formation of the Hittite kingdom in about 1650 bc. it is important to determine the spoken language(s) of its inventors.
205
At the same time. Sayce to give the correct interpretation of the logograms for “King” (rex) and “Land” (regio) as early as 1880. and its close association with Luwian. 98). was the use of hieroglyphic signs for marking endings of nouns and verbs. The Invention and Development of the Alphabet. But inscriptions of this type were not yet linked to the grammar of any particular Anatolian language. the early Achaemenids regarded deploying new sign shapes for writing Old Persian as an important propagandistic device. inscribed in hieroglyphs and in cuneiform. 96) was probably carved in a later period. Although the “Kubaba-seal” (Catalog No. Only at this stage do we observe the functional extension of hieroglyphic writing to other genres. while others draw upon their Luwian equivalents. allowed the British scholar A. Therefore. This implies that the creators of the script were equally familiar with the Hittite and Luwian languages. By the fourteenth century bc one can observe the emergence of a phonetic syllabary that made it possible to record unambiguously personal names. H. This interpretation is all the more likely since the appearance of the first phonetic hieroglyphic inscriptions roughly coincides in time with the shift from Akkadian to Hittite as the principal language of cuneiform texts in the Hittite capital Hattusa in the fifteenth–fourteenth centuries bc (van den Hout 2009). and structural interference between Luwian and Hittite. as illustrated in table 15. This was the beginning of ancient Anatolian philology. In a similar fashion. the use of the new hieroglyphic script was the most efficient way of stressing their indigenous character. AnATOlIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG
both Mesopotamian cuneiform and the Aramaic alphabet were already in use in Iran. The discovery of short Urartian inscriptions both in Mesopotamian cuneiform and Anatolian hieroglyphic transmission on large vessels found at Altıntepe (northeastern
. where the extensive presence of native Luwian speakers can be confirmed through the analysis of personal names. In order to learn more about the region where the script under discussion was first created. 95). could in principle be read in any language. this volume). such as the name of Massanawiya (Catalog No. 97). the Hittite kings may have viewed the use of the hieroglyphic script as a symbol of their cultural independence from Mesopotamia. the evolved script was conducive to making longer inscriptions on personal objects (Catalog No. The available archaeological record confirms the hypothesis that the Anatolian hieroglyphic script originally evolved for making short inscriptions on personal objects. the interplay of signs on this object is typologically similar to the practices of the Hittite Old Kingdom. such as monumental royal inscriptions. This discovery helped to establish the study of “Hittite hieroglyphs” as a universally accredited philological field.1. Thus. reflecting the fact that the Canaanite word for house is *bayt. therefore. provided a solid confirmation of many hypothetical readings that were advanced by scholars of Luwian in the 1920s and 1930s. In the case of longer texts recorded on clay tablets. references to the use of Luwian in Hittite administrative texts. The extensive Luwian and Phoenician bilingual inscription of Karatepe (southeastern Turkey). By contrast. found in 1947. and so on (see 12.

wa su. Ankara: Ankara Turizmi. Some Anatolian hieroglyphs and their base of derivation Sign Logogram Sound Value Base of Derivation
CAPErE “take” 4 “four” PEs “foot” PrAE “before” BOnus “good” sIGIlluM “seal”
da mi ti pari wa or wi sa
hitt.” but the recent work on the sign <ta 4> confirmed its alternative phonetic interpretation as la (Rieken and Yakubovich. hitt.“good” (vs. it is enough to refer to the fragmentary Iron Age inscription from the Antakya region mentioning Halparuntiya (Catalog No. 99).“stand. miwa “four” (vs. parri “before” (vs. Ali.
references
Collon. These “new readings” helped to establish a very close genetic relationship between the Luwian language of the longer hieroglyphic inscriptions and cuneiform texts. la(la). and Belkis Dinçol 1980
Gelb. At the same time. Eskieserleri ve Müzeleri Sevenler Derneği Yayınları. Oriental Institute Publications 45. a new inscription found in Aleppo features the name of the same country with the initial <pa> sign.“take” (vs. This opens the possibility that the country of Walastina/ Palastina (phonetically possibly “Falastina”). luv.“walk. hitt. tiya. sasanza “seal” (vs. 24). mawa “four”) hitt. 1971
206
. peran “before”) – luv. assu “good”) luv. Dominique 1987 First Impressions: Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East. The name of the country ruled by this king was traditionally read as “Wadasatina. ta. Tell al-Judaidah. and Tell Taªyinat. da. siyatar “seal”)
Turkey) prompted the re-evaluation of phonetic values of several important hieroglyphic signs (Hawkins. Richard C. Excavations in the Plain of Antioch. forthcoming).vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Table 15. p. there remains much space for new interpretations specifying the values of individual Anatolian hieroglyphs. and Neumann 1974). minor philological discoveries pertaining to the Anatolian hieroglyphic writing are likely to have a substantial impact upon
how we understand the history of the Levant in the Early Iron Age. who settled in the southwestern part of present-day Israel (Lawler 2009. step”) luv. 1939
Haines. had a name related to that of the biblical Philistines. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. in the southernmost tip of Turkey and northern Syria. At the same time.1. To illustrate the importance of this ongoing work. step” (compare luv. Thus.“take”) hitt. Morpurgo-Davies.
Dinçol. Hittite Hieroglyphic Monuments. hitt. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Volume 2: The Structural Remains of the Later Phases: Chatal Hüyük. luv. Ignace J. Anadolu Medeniyetleri Müzesinde Bulunan Hitit Hieroglif Mühürleri/Hethitische Hieroglyphensiegel im Museum für Anatolische Zivilisationen.

Nevertheless. Beginning in the fifteenth century bc. we encounter a similar sign used with the meaning vita “life” on Hittite royal seals. Its popularity throughout the eastern Mediterranean need not surprise us given its importance in modern popular culture. found in the Early Iron Age layer of Tell Tayinat but presumably coming from nearby Alalakh. James Burgin. although this does not explain the vocalism of the Linear B sign. illustrates that the ankh symbol had already been known in the Levant in the early second millennium bc.1 cm OIM A27494
95
95. 1936 2. In my opinion. cylinder Seal
hematite Mittani. iy
208
. Many scholars were convinced about the connection between this symbol and the Egyptian “ankh” (Laroche 1960. It is possible that Greek ∞oí≤ “life” was a trigger of
this process. originally the Egyptian symbol of life. pp. 68–69). This cylinder seal. In contrast to this established theory. has recently adduced cogent iconographic arguments for taking the vita sign as a simplified adaptation of the image of the Hittite double-headed eagle. modern impression
The majority of the Anatolian hieroglyphic signs have indigenous origins. 95–99
95. Tell Tayinat Excavated by the syrian Expedition of the university of Chicago.1 x 1. a small set of foreign signs that became widespread throughout the eastern Mediterranean may have influenced the development of Anatolian writing. the cursive shape of the ankh symbol acquired the sound value za. The clearest example is the ankh cross. 1600–1500 bc Turkey.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. a graduate student at the University of Chicago. used for rendering Mycenaean Greek. there is no real contradiction between the two points of view because the Egyptian symbol of life could influence the semantics of the genetically unrelated but outwardly similar vita sign. In the Linear B writing.

Nonetheless.13. see Collon 1987. It is inscribed (from top to bottom) as (deus) ku-avis. the fact that Kubaba’s name was correctly read for the first time only in 1931 (Laroche 1960. 95–99 96.8 x 1. The first sign deus “god” is a determinative for gods or goddesses.2 x 1. The second one presumably refers to the phonetic value of the first syllable of the divine name. Interestingly enough. This group is typologically quite unusual. especially given the fact that the earliest of them were found in the nineteenth century. p. The monumental inscriptions from Carchemish contain the fuller spelling of the same theonym as (deus) ku-avis-pa-pa. It is simply impossible to imagine that they were all falsified before their meaning became clear to modern scholars. 1000–700 bc Purchased in Berlin. 1929 2. iy
209
. whose name is possibly etymologically connected to that of Kubaba (Munn 2008). which constitutes a reference to the Syrian goddess Kubaba. Stamp Seal Chalcedony Iron Age. 131. The name of Kubaba appears on them either alone or together with the name of the sun god. 77) strongly suggests that the seals of this group are genuine despite their uncertain origin. 577–80). AnATOlIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.” which implies that a bird was Kubaba’s symbol in Syrian iconography.” offering a remote parallel to this group. a bird of prey is also a symbol of the Phrygian mother goddess Cybele. since Anatolian hieroglyphic seals normally refer to the names of their owners and not to deities. The third symbol is a logogram that literally means “bird. none of which was documented in the course of controlled excavations (Hawkins 2000. modern impression
This stamp seal of uncertain provenience came to the Oriental Institute collection in 1929.
The inscription has close parallels on a number of Iron Age seals. pp. For occasional cuneiform “divine seals.2 cm OIM A6812
96
96. p.

to
210
be explained.0 cm OIM A12728
97
97. The seal has a rectangular.95 ≈ 1.. tabloid Seal
limestone Thirteenth century(?) bc Turkey.” The three signs are centered. XIIa 2. level IIIb.7 ≈ 0. The date of the Ankara seal cannot be determined. p. However. 5. Level IIIb has been described as a residential area of irregularly laidout mudbrick complexes with packed earth floors and has been dated to roughly 1000–500 bc. and material. 95–99 97. 7f. modern impression
This seal was found on February 10. p. The seal’s closest parallel is one now kept in the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. 17. however. Dinçol 1980. form.1 ≈ 1. 5. which from the determinative vir must be a man’s name. Filling in the Luwian word for “god” massan(a/i). Reportedly. Chatal höyük (Amuq). The two other signs are each placed in the center flanked by simple vertical incisions in line 3. no. According to their description it is of almost identical size (2. The signs have been carefully laid out over three “lines. Mora 1987. is that names ending in -wiya are thus far exclusively attested for women. as opposed to the seal from Chatal Höyük this seal has no figure engraved on its reverse and shows the same inscription on both sides in practically identical fashion. pl. no. since it does not come from a regular excavation. It too has a perforation through its long side.9 x 1. that is. The problem. the middle sign wa/i filling the entire middle line. It is lengthwise perforated with holes measuring 0.9 cm). Rectangular seals inscribed with Anatolian hieroglyphs of this kind are rare. on the northeast spur known as Area 1 on the mound of Chatal Höyük (Haines 1971).4 cm at the outside but slightly narrowing toward the inside. which could result in a name Šiwaya.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.. The side with the inscription bears Anatolian hieroglyphic signs within a rectangular border measuring 1. The two large. It was made of stone with a light beige color.3 x 1. but it is usually dated to the thirteenth century bc (cf. When turned along its short side and turned 90 degrees to the left the engraving on the other side shows what seems to be a bird-like creature facing left. Reading the name Massanawaya leaves the -w. Another possibility would be to use the Hittite word for “god” šiu-. quadrant v-13 2. The seal in the Oriental
. 87). and by a vertical incision and the sign for “man” (vir) in line 1 in the following way:
| vir deus | wa/i | i(a) |
This results in a name. carved sides are flat with rounded edges. 290. Gaziantep or Kahramanmaraş. pp. tabloid form. p. deus-wa/i-i(a). according to Ali and Belkıs Dinçol (1980.28. pl. it stems from the same general region. This engraving fills the entire surface and there is no trace of a border.55 cm. 1934.for the deus sign (word signs or logograms are customarily rendered in Latin) it can be read as Mas(sa)nawiya or Massanawaya. 346). 21f. Mora 1987. The inscription (pi-ti-ya vir bonus) is likewise laid out symmetrically within a rectangular border with the signs for vir and bonus and an additional filler antithetically on either side although less carefully executed than the Chatal Höyük exemplar.

However.” It also possible (David Hawkins. pp. priest of the sun god. 95–99
Institute’s collection was found in the Iron Age levels of Chatal Höyük. as opposed to the second millennium. the sa may be read as a case ending following sol and can be understood as “(This is the seal of Kula(n)muwa. modern impression
98.2 cm. priest. unstratified level in section “IX” Excavated by the syrian Expedition of the university of Chicago. In this case. The inscription reads:
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The signs face inward and the inscription starts on the lower right just below the lion’s rear. After the sacerdos or in between the sacerdos and the za(-a-wa/i) there is a small hook (<) that might have been intended as marking the beginning (or end) of the inscription. It has a gold setting along the edges with knob-like protrusions on both short ends. A close parallel to the Tell Tayinat seal with a recumbent lion and an
. 580–83) whose provenance and archaeological context is often problematic. then the seal might have been preserved as an heirloom. personal communication) that the “hook” is a smaller variant of the sa-sign that we see at the end of the personal name (exercitus-la/i/u-mu-wa/i-sa). Originally it probably was a ring. when seals were extremely common. Tell Tayinat. Scaraboid Seal lapis lazuli. With those knobs the total length is 2.7 cm OIM A41977
za-a-wa/i sigillum -za exercitus -la/i/u-muwa/i-sa sol sacerdos (or sol-sa sacerdos)
This seal was found on July 21. The very well-preserved inscription is finely incised and runs in an oval band formed by the gold setting on the outside and a single drawn line on the inside surrounding a recumbent lion in the center. 573. gold Iron Age Turkey. The setting leaves the flat carved side on the bottom open and has small clamps pointing upward around the curved side to a height of 4 mm. during Oriental Institute excavations. 1937 2. 1937. If so.6 x 0. the text says “This is the seal of Kula(n)muwa. tvdh
98
98.) blessed by the sun god. If this date is correct. AnATOlIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.2 x 1.13. they seem to have been rare in the Iron Age.” This seal belongs to a small group of five socalled ownership seals (see Hawkins 2000. The za-signs date the inscription to the Iron Age.

eighth century bc Turkey.6 cm. Halparuntiya’s name in Fragment 2 is written semi-logographically: it contains signs halpa “Aleppo” and cervus 2 “Runtiya.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.2 x37.
212
. fragment 2: 14. royal inScription in luwian Basalt Iron Age II/Amuq O. but whether that was the same individual as the one on the seal discussed here remains unclear. 95–99
oval-shaped inscription in Anatolian hieroglyphs surrounding it was recently offered on the international art market. The inscription is very similar but the seal is said to have been made of hematite and has a hammer-shaped pierced handle. Stag god.2 x 23. tvdh
99
99.4 cm OIM A27861d–h
Fragments of an Iron Age Luwian inscription mention King Halparuntiya and the name of his country. 1936 fragment 1: 41.” The sign tonitrus “storm god” was frequently added to the logogram halpa because the city of Aleppo was famous for its temple of the storm god.
A Kulamuwa (or Kulanmuwa) is known as king of Sam’al in the eighth century bc. Tell Tayinat Excavated by the syrian Expedition of the university of Chicago.

Note that any Anatolian hieroglyphic sign for a syllable ending in a can be also read as a plain consonant in a cluster (thus <sà> can stand for s)...
Fragment 2:
…Halparuntiya…
.. Fragment 1
99. 366). was previously read as wa/i-ta4-sà-ti-ni-˹ za-sa˺ and translated as “Wadasatinean” (Hawkins 2000.. which means that it can be used for both the syllables la and li (Rieken and Yakubovich forthcoming). p. 95–99
The adjective wa/i-la/i-sà-ti-ni-˹ za-sa˺ in Fragment 1.13.. rel-sá rel-za(-)x.-´ ˹tonitrus˺. 213 … fortis-li?-i-na |*273-i-na |x.
Transliteration
Translation
…Walastinean … … but (that) which … … mighty virtue … (translation unclear)
… x-pa-wa/i-ta-´ rel-a-za x x x … … x-ni(-)a+ra/i-li-ka SUPER+ra/i-´ ˹capere?˺-ta |*356-sù-ha(-)˹da˺-mi-i.. Fragment 2
Fragment 1:
line 1 line 2 line 3 line 4 line 5
… x x x | x-wa/i-i …
… -ni-sá wa/i-la/i-sà-ti-ni-˹za-sa˺(regio).. The same adjective is also
99..halpa-˹pa˺-cervus2-ti-ia-sa x.. presumably derived from the name of Halparuntiya’s country.. …wa/i. AnATOlIAn hIErOGlyPhIC wrITInG OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. The sign formerly read as <ta4> can now be read as
<la/i>...

vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs. iy
published
Gelb 1939. pls. 78–83.
214
. with the name of the biblical Philistines. which implies that its initial sound was something between p and w. phonetically Falastina or something similar. 95–99
attested with the initial <pa>. perhaps f. 38–39. This makes it possible to connect the name of Halparuntiya’s country. pp.

descriptions of the most ancient script now known will diverge. the time and place of the earliest-known examples of Chinese writor ing. and ˘ ˘ “eel” (mán). both in the detail of individual characters and in the general system itself (fig. However. their depictive qualities became progressively less apparent as the script developed. On the other hand. Descriptions of the script today are likely to misrepresent. writing in China began with picture writing. 鮫. Some scholars regard marks painted on Neolithic pottery as the
Ancient Script
Identificational Bone Zhou Bronze small seal
Clerical
Standard
figure 14. the script in use today — whether the “simplified” script used in mainland China or the “traditional” script used in Taiwan. “shark” (jiāo). “fish”
215
. On the one hand.1. I suspect that few patrons will be able to see the “beef strips” in the name 牛肉絲 or the “fish” in the many dishes containing the graph 魚 or its many derivatives. and most American restaurants — has evolved a long way from its earliest usage. but eventually took a decisive turn toward depiction of sounds.鮑. also to a rather considerable extent. In fact. it is that most ancient script that I try to describe. However. 13. such as 魷. we might be better able to pick out (though we might be more likely to especially find “turtle” on the menu). 鯉. As the examples depicting the forms of the character for “fish” suggest. that ancient script. “carp” (lı ). ThE BEgiNNiNgS OF wriTiNg iN ChiNA
eDwarD l. the experience can be daunting not only for the abundance of dishes listed on the menu (and often on the wall) but also perhaps even more so for the names of the dishes — and especially for the way they are written.1). because we know the script of one period. Conversely. all four of these characters are pictographic. the continuity of use allows us to trace that evolution with considerable confidence. 鮪. “salmon” (guı ). my assigned topic in this essay being the origins of writing in China. there is no need for a Rosetta Stone for us — at least those of us trained to do so — to read the ancient script. not to mention the 99 percent or more of current Chinese characters that depict primarily the sound of the word. As did writing elsewhere. to the point that today it is probably misleading to refer to even them as pictographs. “tuna” (wéı). and 鰻 for “squid” (yóu). if by “writing” we mean the visual record of language. 鮭. If we could imagine going into a restaurant in thirteenth-century bc Anyang.14. from the later historical script. Chart illustrating the evolution of the character for yú 魚. or at least were when they were first created over three thousand years ago.
A
That the Chinese script is the only one of the four ancient writing systems to remain in use today is both an advantage and a disadvantage in trying to describe it. “abalone” (bào). Despite the widespread belief that the Chinese writing system is pictographic or ideographic. among just the different kinds of fish that might be found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant in America. ShauGhneSSy
s anyone who has ever been to a Chinese restaurant knows. ThE BEGInnInGs Of wrITInG In ChInA
14. Hong Kong. to a rather considerable extent. we run the risk of anachronism when we rely on that knowledge to read the script of another period.

Some of these marks bear a certain resemblance to individual characters in the later Chinese script. It is not until the oracle-bone inscriptions of the late thirteenth-century bc that we find grammatically connected marks that certainly record language (see Calaog No. the “diviner” presiding. 101).2. and so. “We will attack such-and-such a state. thus. and none of them occurs in any sort of linguistic context. There is no archaeological evidence with which to address the related questions of how long before that time writing developed and in what contexts. (There are lively debates. and . in the west of China: However. about the nature and sorts of writing that were possible. 1220–1050 bc). the inscriptions concern a wide range of topics. 13. from birth-giving to warfare. when divinations were customarily performed in positive–negative pairs (“She loves me” — “She loves me not”). Turtle plastron with oracle texts
beginning of this period. and. but these will have to be topics for another occasion.” rather than “Should we attack such-andsuch a state. the theological
. 100) — but it is a more or less happy accident. Especially from the
216
figure 14. as in the ancient Middle East. such as the following from the mid-fifth-millennium bc site of Banpo.) Although the oracle-bone inscriptions are primitive in comparison with the Chinese script of today. the inscriptions provide a surprising amount of information about the cultural life of the time and. and from slightly later there begin to be inscriptions on bronze vessels (as. in later examples. Catalog No. it was tied to court administration. Without even asking why the second mark should depict the horizon as being over the mountain. These inscriptions on turtle-shell and ox bone (and thus known in Chinese as “shell-and-bone writing” [jiágu wén]) ˘ (fig.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
beginning of writing.” Although the effect of this declarative mode of charging the turtle may not have differed much from questioning it. especially through much of the Shang dynasty. as to whether writing developed gradually or rapidly. interpreting the first of these such as as depicting the sun rising over the horizon and the second as the sun rising over mountains. in presentday Shaanxi province.2) derive from divinations performed at the royal court of the last nine kings of the Shang dynasty (ca. the place of divination. Then follows the divination proper.” Except in the very earliest examples of divination. to a somewhat lesser extent. from the weather to the king’s toothaches. known since no later than the seventh century bc (and doubtless much earlier as well) as the “charge” or “command. despite their limited context and more or less formulaic nature. most of these marks could be said to resemble characters in other scripts as well.” which can indicate any or all of the following information: the day of the divination. they do reflect a fully mature writing system. The inscriptions ty pical l y begin with a “preface. we should simply note that these marks too do not occur in any sort of linguistic context. this charge was phrased as a declarative statement. and whether it developed exclusively in a “religious” context or. especially among Western scholars. It is doubtless an accident of preservation and discovery that these divination records are the earliest-known written records from China — there was almost certainly other writing at the same time done on the more perishable media of bamboo and wooden strips. Other scholars have focused on more complex marks found on pottery from the Dawenkou culture of eastern China some two millennia later. from settlement building to the harvest. for example.

as well as the translations used in the English edition of Qiu Xigui’s Chinese Writing.353 different characters divides them into six categories. including especially its earliest periods (though note that Qiu did not define the fifth category. For now. ad 55–149). Following the “charge. though they probably constitute a third ˘ or more of all deciphered oracle-bone characters. but that too
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The first two of these categories are. 長 zhăng “elder”
It would be possible to use this pair of divination inscriptions to arrive at some far-reaching conclusions about the nature of Shang life. I will quote here just one very famous pair of divinations from the reign of King Wu Ding (reigned ca. It really was not advantageous. It too is largely unproblematic:
.” which indicates what actually did happen (almost invariably always confirming the king’s prognostication).
must be a topic for another time.” and “bridge notations” (inscribed on one or the other of the two wing-like protrusions on the side of the turtle plastron) usually indicating who contributed the turtle and/or who prepared it. Que divining: “Consort Hao will give birth and it will not be advantageous. .” which crack was to be “used. it was a girl. in the first case more conceptual.” The king prognosticated and said: “If it be a dīng day that she gives birth. ˘ 信 xìn “trust” 考 kăo “father”. in the second more realistic. the Consort Hao. it will be extensively auspicious. and 月 have again diverged sufficiently from their origins as perhaps to be unintelligible to the uninitiated. The postface to this dictionary of 9. and the rubbing of the plastron also displays well the cracks in the plastron (which is what the king examined in making his prognostication) and the numbers associated with them. jiăyín (day 51). Although the modern characters 上. the most authoritative overview of the Chinese writing system.” On the thirty-first day.” On the thirty-first day. giving two examples for each. The inscriptions illustrate well the four different portions of a full divination.” or phonograms in Qiu Xigui’s terminology. ThE BEGInnInGs Of wrITInG In ChInA
implications are interesting. as it is also in ˘ the modern script. 日. 1220–1190 bc) regarding the birth-giving by one of his principal wives. 下. 下 xià “below” 日 rì “sun”.” saying that “it is basically unnecessary today to pay any attention to” it):
“Pointing at Affairs” or Semantographs: “Resembling Shapes” or Pictographs: “Shapes and Sounds” or Phonograms: “Converging Meanings” or Syssemantographs: “Turning and Commenting”: “Loaning and Borrowing” or Loangraphs: 上 shàng “above”. There can also be separate inscriptions recording the crack “number. 老 lăo “aged” 令 lìng “leader”. 甲申卜 貞婦好免不其加三旬又一日甲寅免允 不加隹女 Crack-making on jiăshēn (day 21). what we would normally refer to as pictographs. divination charges were formulaically phrased as prayers (“We will do such-and-such. the earliest extant analytical dictionary in China. would that it succeed”). 河 hé “river” 武 wu “military”.
甲申卜 貞婦好免加王占曰其隹丁免加其隹庚 免引吉三旬又一日甲寅免允不加隹女 Crack-making on jiăshēn (day 21). I provide a literal translation of the categories. jiăyín (day 51). however. in the subsequent Zhou dynasty (1045–249 bc ). it was a girl. it will be advantageous.” the most complete inscriptions might include also a “prognostication.14. she gave birth. . Characters of these two types make up about 10 percent of the characters in the Shuō wén jie zì. if it be a gēng day that she gives birth. their original shapes should be more or less clear at a glance: . It really was not advantageous. Discussions of the Chinese writing system usually begin with the Shuō wén jie zì or Discussion of ˘ Design Graphs and Analysis of Composite Graphs by Xu Shen (ca. and/or a “verification. I turn my attention to an overview of the script. 月 yuè “moon” 江 jiāng “river”. she gave birth. The category “Shapes and Sounds. the discovery of whose tomb in 1975 rates as one of the great accomplishments in the history of Chinese archaeology. Que divining: “Consort Hao will give birth and it will be advantageous. as both their literal translations and Professor Qiu’s more formal terms would suggest. “Turning and Commenting. and . is far and away the largest category in the Shuō wén jie zì.” almost invariably done by the king himself.

each in its own way originally words for long. It refers to the joining together of two or more semantic components to arrive at a third. The Shuō wén jie zì pro˘ vides a special twofold analysis for some. while 河 tends to be used for rivers of northern China). in turn from the character 水 shuı “water” (origi˘ nally written ). the component is 工. It seems clear that neither component can readily serve as the character’s phonetic. 江 and 河. but they would not have contributed as well to the meaning of the characters. It is surely no coincidence that these two phonetic components. might be termed a “phonophoric-syssemantograph”). Other words written with the same phonetic component share this image: kě 軻 “draft pole” (of a chariot). the phonetic component for hé 河 “river” derives originally from the pictograph of an ax handle. in the case of hé 河 (*gâi). gě 笴 “slender bamboo. The two examples that the Shuō wén jie zì gives are ˘ both problematic. together with a component that indicates the pronunciation: in the case of 江. wu 武 (*ma÷) “military. which is in turn derived from *kâi). The other example of this category. but most of them involve a pointed excavating tool with a long handle). The fourth category of characters in the Shuō wén jie zì is “Converging Meanings” or sysseman˘ tographs in Qiu Xigui’s terminology. and one serves to indicate the pronunciation (and is thus usually termed the “phonetic”). 口. in both of which “man” is both a semantic and phonetic component). Xìn 信 “trust” is composed of the component for “man” (rén 人) and the component for “language” (yán 言) and is said to mean “a man standing by his word. The two examples given by the Shuō wén jie zì. the ax handle is perhaps better seen in the pictograph hé “to carry on the shoulder”: ).” qī 踦 “to stand on one foot.” is ˘ readily analyzed as comprising the components zhı ˘ 止 (*tə÷) “foot” and gē 戈 (*kwâi or *kôi) “dagger-ax” (the oracle-bone form is ). with an added “mouth” component. both meaning “river” ˘ (江 usually being used for rivers of southern China. following a much older gloss. But for one feature. of which one serves to indicate the semantic classification (and thus is often termed the “classifier” or “determinative”). if not purely a “Shape and Sound” phonograph. This too would seem to be a phonophoric-syssemantograph.” a counter -intuitive sense for “military” that surely owes more to later moral philosophy than it does to the intrinsic nature of the language. ˘ the component zhı 止 “foot” stands instead for its ˘ extended meaning “to stop. which was originally the pictograph of a “spade” (there are other explanations of the character.” which after all is also a long. narrow objects. such characters. the phonetic component for the word jiāng 江 “river” is 工. but for different reasons.” qí 錡 “chisel.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
it features characters composed of two or more components.” gōng 攻 “attack.” and so on. it can often be divined at the earliest stages of the script. though by no means all. were used to represent the sounds of the two words for “river. the component is kě 可 (*khâi÷. hóng 虹 “rainbow. In fact.
218
and some of them would have provided a closer match for the pronunciations *krông and *gâi (not to mention the later pronunciations jiāng and hé).” While it may be that the “man” adds some meaning to the word (the character is also commonly written with components for “thousand” [qiān 千] and “body” [shēn 身].” gong ˘ 鞏 “to build” (a foundation).” hóng 紅 “pink” (but originally deriving from “needle”). and so on.” and the two components together therefore mean “to stop fighting. this category potentially would have led to the Chinese script becoming purely phonetic: the phonetic components tended not to be chosen at random. it is also clear that it also indicates the pronunciation of the word: xìn 信 “trust” was pronounced *sins while rén 人 “man” was pronounced *nin. kōng 空 “hollow. Although the semantic contribution of many of these phonetic components has long since ceased to be apparent. now pronounced gōng (anciently pronounced *kông). convergent meaning. (subsequently written kē 柯 *kâi. Thus. terming them “‘Converging Meanings’ with one component ‘Also Phonetic’” (which. Other words written with this phonetic component include gōng 功 “work. Other phonetic components were certainly available. Similarly. to indicate that it was only being used for the sound. empty. in oracle-bone inscriptions it is more likely to have
. but rather were often chosen because they were semantically meaningful as well. both feature the classifier 氵 which derives . now pronounced jiāng (anciently pronounced *krông). inspired by the terminology used in the English translation of Qiu Xigui’s Chinese Writing. narrow object. for instance.” hóng 鴻 “goose” (for its long neck?). but what meanings converge? According to the Shuō wén jie zì.

. more reasonable is the suggestion of Qiu Xigui (2000).” a sense as pictographic as it is convergent of two separate meanings. usually one that would be difficult to depict (generally known as the rebus principle). Because of these problems. the original form of the character for tiān 天 “heaven” was . i.” combining a “knife” with a “fish.” the pictograph .” In fact. in order to differentiate the two different words. Because it was more or less homophonous with the word hé “what.14.” one oracle-bone form of which is written (other examples replace the knife with accentuate a “hand” holding a “saw.. Boltz (1994). being a “knife” underneath the pictograph of a nose ( .. that groups these “Converging Meanings” characters together with those of the “Pointing at Affairs” and “Resembling Shapes” categories as all being pictographic.” understood as “the highest. kē 柯. it. ˘ but the category “Loaning and Borrowing” is not without interest. shān 删 (the oracle-bone form of which is ) “to excise” (as in to erase brush-written characters on bamboo strips by shaving them off with a knife). and/or the victim’s remaining foot). Hé 荷 was originally written simply 何.” . It
. not necessarily the character yī 一 “one”) and the character dà 大 “great. she.e. though the “meat” was in turn replaced by the graphically similar “moon” ( . i. she. the oracle-bone form clearly being a pictograph of a man carrying an ax handle . yuè) and came to serve as the phonetic component of the character: yuè 刖. those of Peter Boodberg (1937. Common examples are hé 荷 “to carry on the back” and hé 何 “what” and jī 箕 “basket” and qí 其 “he. she. 1940) and his student William G. the semantic element “bamboo” (i.e.” the archaic form of the character. and thus is a good example of what I have termed above a phonophoric-syssemantograph. combining the two semantic components “man” (i. Rather.” For several centuries. it..e. combining a “knife” with “bound bamboo strips”. to differentiate the two words.” Then. she..” but by about 800 bc it too was modified with the added phonetic component jī 丌 (which eventually became graphically fused with the original pictograph. ThE BEGInnInGs Of wrITInG In ChInA
meant “armed soldiers on the march. . above which there is nothing else.e. especially for the early period of the language reflected by the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions. It refers to one word for which a
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pictograph exists being used to write another homophonous word. This seems clearly to be wrong. and jié 魝 ( ) “to clean fish. seems to replace the saw head and cut-off foot with the graph for “meat” ( ). Part of the confusion stems from the dictionary’s analysis of the character 天 as “Converging the Meanings” of a horizontal line (一. Later in the development of the script. featuring a round top rather than a horizontal line.e. was borrowed to write qí 其 “he. . have argued that no complex characters should be analyzed as lacking a phonetic component. perhaps the most influential Western accounts of the origin and early development of the Chinese language and script. Another allograph.” the character was “borrowed” to write that word.” about which almost no one can agree and for which the Shuō wén jie zì provides almost no examples). Qiu Xigui cites three different characters combining different components with a “knife” (dāo 刀) component: yí 劓 “cut off the nose (as a punishment). an extra semantic component (ca 艹 “grass”) was added to the char˘o acter for the word “to carry on the back. it”: the original graph for jī “basket. Another important pair of words that seems to have undergone a similar “borrowing” process and that illustrates several interesting developments with the Chinese script is diān 顛 (the archaic pronunciation of which was *tîn) “the crown of the head” and tiān 天 (*thîn) “heaven. Among numerous examples of this category. It was this version that eventually became the conventional way of writing the character. The last two categories of characters as analyzed by the Shuō wén jie zì are relatively rare (es˘ pecially the category “Turning and Commenting. it” (as well as a modal particle). 竹) was added to the character for “basket. with kě also serving as the phonetic. zì 自 “nose”). itself a loan character for the word kě 可 “able”). the pictograph continued to be used to write the word qí 其 “he. the leading Chinese authority on the topic.” Even though the Shuō wén jie zì defines tiān 天 “heaven” as diān 顛 ˘ “the crown of the head. rén 人) and “ax handle” (i. so that it was no longer distinguishable as a separate component).” still the relationship between the words has been only dimly recognized.” A similar process is seen in the case of jī 箕 “basket” and qí 其 “he.” Another particularly pictographic example to add to these examples might be that for the word yuè “to cut off a foot (as a punishment).

Yet. Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago. and Ch’en Meng-chia 1946
1940
. it became ever less so. even what was to be gotten in an attack on the western Qiang people: “cowries” or “heads” (both apparently allographs of fú 孚 “to capture”). No. It seems to me that this might be explained as a way in which the script has influenced the language itself.” written conventionally as 牡. and even a “buck” deer: . and pìn “female. writing is epiphenomenal and can be defined as writing only insofar as it renders speech. 1937
Kelly. However. 1994 The Origin and Early Development of the Chinese Writing System. Ping-ch’uan 1962 Hsiao-t’un. and linguists. in one notable case. Peter A. language is only spoken. another case of “Loaning and Borrowing”) and served as the phonetic component of the character (an allograph of which is in fact dı ng 頂 [*têng÷]). Fascicle 3. much later examples could also be adduced. For instance. it is not hard to demonstrate that Shang oraclebone inscriptions could and did render in writing distinctions that could be made in speech only less economically. This has caused a controversy between paleographers. which. to and “ewes” . Volume 2: Inscriptions.” again written conventionally as 牝. for objects of hunting and trapping. It might well be said that this is an indication of an immature stage of the script. similar examples could be shown for types of sacrifice (differentiating both the offerings and the vessels used to hold the offerings). Charles Fabens.e. and otherwise made easier to write. but also “rams” and “sows” . and bı 匕 in the case of pìn 牝) to˘ ˘ gether with a “bovine” (牛) signific.”
further reading
Boltz. these two phonetic components could be combined with an array of animals to indicate their gender: “bulls” or “cows” . A7691B7731. 1962. for most linguistic theories. There is no indication that these different characters were pronounced differently. William G. with rounded and curved strokes tending to become squared and straightened. New Haven: American Oriental Society. however. “she” (tā 她). This is by no means an isolated case. and “it” (tā 牠 or 它). the Chinese script as seen at its stage of development at the time of the Shang oracle-bone inscriptions was still strongly pictographic in nature. in both
cases employing a phonetic component (tu 土 in the ˘ case of mu 牡. consider the words mu ˘ “male. “‘Ideography’ or Iconolatry?” T‘oung Pao 35: 266–88. In oracle-bone inscriptions. “Some Proleptical Remarks on the Evolution of Archaic Chinese. Part 2: Inksqueezes of the Restored Specimens of Inscribed Tortoise Shells with Annotations. This phonetic component ˘ was lost when the round head was replaced with a horizontal line. were introduced for the single word tā 他that had always sufficed to indicate the generic third-person pronoun. and as some of the examples considered above show. or that they gave rise (at least directly) to different words in the later language.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
seems likely that this was originally a pictograph of a man accentuating the head and thus stood for the word diān 顛 “the crown of the head.” and that the character was then borrowed to write the nearly homophonous “heaven. Taipei: Institute of History and Philology. or. as for instance in the early twentieth century when written differentiations of the pronouns “he” (tā 他). I would like to suggest. and.” It is likely that from an early time the round head was also identified as the character dīng 丁 (*têng) “top of a nail head” (subsequently written as dīng 釘. even tā 祂 “He” (i. is not an entirely uninteresting phenomenon and should certainly count as a fine example of “visible language. who tend to focus on written characters.
Boodberg. “boars” be sure. Archaeologia Sinica 2. Chinese Bronzes from the Buckingham Collection. for Christians.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 2/2: 329–72. indeed. part of a gradual simplification of the script. who focus on spoken language and for whom. 220 Chang. “stallions” and “mares” . As the above analyses show. though it is important to note. American Oriental Series 78.. Christ or God).

14. Western Zhou Bronzes from the Arthur M. pp. 1989 “Shang Oracle-bone Inscriptions.2 cm Art Institute of Chicago.316
This handled tureen is one of an extensive array of bronze vessels commissioned by China’s royal family and political aristocracy for the preparation and offering of millet and other food in ceremonial banquets. western Zhou dynasty. the Shang. Edward L. second half of eleventh century bc 27. lucy Maud Buckingham Collection. Exuberantly imaginative creatures animate the surface. Volume 2: Ancient Chinese Ritual Bronzes in the Arthur M. ThE BEGInnInGs Of wrITInG In ChInA
Qiu Xigui 2000 Chinese Writing. and Sue Taylor. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.0 x (diameter at lip) 22. Born. Shaughnessy. This vessel’s distinctive style. grain veSSel (Gui) Bronze China. Sackler Collections.
Rawson.
Shaughnessy. coiled dragons spread across each side of the bowl. Two large. Edward L. 1990
OBjECT dESCripTiONS: CATALOg NOS. Jessica M. and on the
100
221
. Sackler Collections. with its basin cast onto a hollow square base derived from an altar or stand. was introduced soon after the Zhou conquest of China’s first archaeologically verified dynasty. AIC 1927. edited by Robert Poor. 100–101
100. 68–90. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China and the Institute of East Asian Studies. Richard A. University of California. Harrie A Vanderstappen.” In Ritual and Reverence: Chinese Art at the University of Chicago. Chicago: David and Alfred Smart Gallery. Early China Special Monograph Series 4. animal-headed birds form the handles.

detail of inscription
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. ep
note
1
Translation by Edward L. Given the vessel’s extraordinary technical skill and artistry. creatures with spiky. this text is countersunk in the metal. which was then pressed into a second block that locked into the vessel’s clay piece-mold assembly and created a positive (relief) impression from which the bronze was cast.”1 This brief text commemorates a celebratory event: the commissioning of this vessel to entertain the king by a court official or attendant named Zhong Cheng. an inscription of eleven characters runs from top to bottom in two columns reading right to left: Zhong Cheng zuo you bao yi yong xiang wang ni wei yong “Zhong Cheng makes his treasured vessel. pp. Rawson 1990. Like almost all bronze inscriptions.
100. these words would have been recognized by all participants. both living and dead. 150. Inside the bottom of the basin. to use to feast the king’s reciprocal immortalizing. second character) depicts two figures kneeling face to face over a grain vessel. it may seem curious that its message is visible only from above and would have been completely concealed when the tureen was filled with food. Shaughnessy. in a feast in which this vessel filled a prominent role. 366. Yet being spiritually as well as physically integral to the vessel. This was achieved by carving the characters into a wet clay block. flame-like plumage display a clever ambiguity: they may be read as addorsed birds or as elephant-headed “dragons” facing each other. 100–101
base. p. among which “feast” (left column. The strongly rendered and well-balanced script incorporates a few pictographic characters. 44–47.
published
Kelly and Ch’en Meng-chia 1946.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.

at the moment of the divination. Sometime afterward the record of the
101. the largest piece exhibited here. provides a good illustration of such a crack. 1200– 1050 bc) and concern a wide range of topics of concern to the kings. They are records of divination — essentially the attempt to influence the outcome of future events — performed on behalf of the kings of the last portion of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1200 bc China various dimensions (see below) The David and Alfred smart Museum.393. auspicious or inauspicious) of the divination. ThE BEGInnInGs Of wrITInG In ChInA OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.385.385
101. (Number 1986. The shells (and bones) were prepared in advance of the divination by carving and drilling hollows into the back of the shell.392.386
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. 1986.386. Then. 1986. 1986. smart 1986. some with pigment shang Dynasty. 1986.14. 1986. including the scorching of the shell caused by the hot brand. oracle boneS Turtle plastron and ox bones. 1986. ca. 100–101
101.397
These bits of turtle shell (the plastron or flat underbelly of the turtle) and ox bones bear some of the earliest examples of writing in China.) The shape of this crack apparently indicated the result (positive or negative. causing a stress crack in the shape of 卜 to appear on the front of the shell.385. a hot brand was inserted into a hollow.

are preserved) a specially raised sheep should be offered.’” “Divining on xinwei (day eight): ‘To Da Jia announce a shepherded lamb.
101. The other pieces exhibited here are all quite fragmentary. 1986.397 (7. 1986.392 (9. but they illustrate something of the writing of the time.1 cm): “Divining on xin.0 x 5.385 (10.…” “Divining on xinwei (day eight): ‘To Da Yi announce a shepherded lamb.397 includes portions of three related divinations to determine to which Shang ancestor (the names of Da Yi.3 x 6.8 x 2.385 itself does not bear any inscription).0 x 2. sometimes including also a record of what “really” did happen. els
translations
1986.393
101.6 cm): “day forty-one” (of the Shang sixty-day cycle) 1986.397
224
.8 x 2. and 1986.9 cm): (uninscribed) 1986.3 cm): “Wu should not” 1986.393 (7. 1986.”
divination.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE OBJECT DEsCrIPTIOns: CATAlOG nOs.392
101.’” “… announce a (shepherded) lamb. could then be incised into the shell near the crack (though 1986.6 cm): “Mei” (apparently a name)
published
Shaughnessy 1989. caused in part by the crack-making process itself. meaning the Great Yi — the founding father of the dynasty — and Da Jia.386 (7. 100–101 1986.

the scribes often varied the way they wrote. palka
L
ate Classic Period Maya writing (ca. and sounds such as glottal stops and long vowels. However. resulting in a great diversity in the script and its incomplete decipherment. Maya inscriptions number in the thousands. and object are closely interrelated. carved bones. invented glyphs. and collective ritual. records of events could be transmitted over generations. Nonetheless. ThE dEVELOpMENT OF MAyA wriTiNg
Joel w. The context of Maya writing also indicates that its permanence was important. such as for either religious. I discuss the historical background of Maya writing. Maya texts were painted on paper. Additionally. the Maya built numerous cities with impressive stone-block temples and open plaza spaces with stone stelae and panels. However. leading to an excellent comprehension of Late Classic Maya inscriptions. socially important. especially with public monuments and during rituals. resulting in a shared culture and artistic tradition. stucco building facades. cloth. or word signs. would be preserved. and they are found from northern Yucatán down to Chiapas. The Classic Period Maya script balances the use of logographs. jade carvings. classifications of objects. many of which are standardized syllables and logographs. Thus. image. Classic Period Maya texts (ca. We live in a time of exciting advancements in the decipherment of Late Classic Maya writing. then I explore the contexts in which Maya writing appears.15. including jade ear spools. although Yucatec Mayan is also represented in the script. the extensive corpus of Maya writing exists because texts were purposely carved on nonperishable materials. Elite art became more extraordinary. Thus. ceramic vessels. Surprisingly. Maya writing is found on everything associated with elites. the Gulf Coast region. western Honduras. ad 250–900) include calendars. The Maya interacted heavily through trade. It is on the topics of what and where Maya writing is seen that we may find intriguing clues toward its origins. and the spoken words and writing itself. incised shell. and economically valuable once the fine calligraphy was added. scholars labeled it “logosyllabic. it takes many
225
years for students of Maya writing to memorize the sign repertoire and even longer to write in the script. and syllables. warfare. It is also important to note that Maya text. The material and social contexts of Maya writing suggest that its origins cannot be traced to a single factor. the southern Mexican states of Guerrero and Oaxaca. ThE DEvElOPMEnT Of MAyA wrITInG
15. various early Maya scripts evolved pointing to their complex origins. and even scribal signatures. readers embellished or “performed” the narratives. or economic purposes. political. wood.” There are over three hundred signs in the Late Classic Maya script. all symbols of power in Mesoamerica. syntax. hence. in the last fifteen years. The Maya scribes planned the hieroglyphs as painstakingly as they crafted the fine artifacts bearing the texts. epigraphers have explored the linguistics of Maya writing and deciphered many more signs. we know little about the origins and earliest phases of Maya writing. By pondering the nature and distribution of Maya writing. and El Salvador. The ancient Maya are well known for their finely made painted ceramics. The Classic Maya wrote mostly in a Ch’oltian Mayan language.
mesoamerican script history
Ancient Mesoamerican scripts are concentrated in central Mexico. and sculpture that carry ornate inscriptions. but most of these inscriptions have not been preserved. and reorganized the signs. and even human skin. clues to its origins can be revealed. In this extensive region. ad 600–800) is one of the best-understood scripts in ancient Mesoamerica. political alliances. surrounded by their agricultural fields and pole-and-thatch residential constructions. verb conjugation. descriptions of events in the lives of elites. including vocabulary. The texts accurately represent language. and the
. and stone monuments. In this essay.

such as the signs for “cloud” and “hill. The Maya were not the first literate people in ancient Mexico and Central America. Interestingly. balam. Aztec (Nahuatl). have survived. it probably represents language through logographs and syllables. ceramics. Writing was more than likely invented in the Early or Middle Formative period (ca. but several early scripts were found throughout the Maya region. near the Olmec site of San Lorenzo. the individual sign clusters within the blocks are read in a similar manner. all early writing in Mesoamerica remains undeciphered. not one. Isthmian. perhaps to the beginning of of the sentence like in Egyptian and Classic Maya writing. and elite art. central Mexico. phonetically as ba-la-ma (the last vowel a is dropped). But the stone’s exact provenance and date are unknown. Mexico. Veracruz. The early Maya inscriptions are linear in organization. Other examples of the earliest Mesoamerican writing are found in the highlands of Oaxaca. god names. shell. and Mixtec writing. Mesoamerican scripts generally combine logographs and syllables.
. Maya. scholars reported an inscription on a serpentine block discovered during modern construction at Cascajal. The incised signs resemble other Olmec hieroglyphs. but only a few examples. with fewer paired columns like in the Classic period. and bone. A few years ago. Oaxaca. all of which provided important pre-conditions for the development of writing. murals. Nuiñe. Mesoamerican peoples created countless books and records on paper or animal skin. since both Olmec and Zapotec scripts were invented earlier. Human heads often face to the viewer’s left. and we assume that they too are read from top to bottom and left to right. a Maya word for jaguar. Mesoamerican writing occurs on carved stone monuments. This script may record the Zapotec language. such as jade. while the Maya adopted writing from other Mesoamerican cultures and borrowed a few signs. Known scripts include Olmec. and the text possibly has a top-down. dated to about 1300–1000 bc exhibit similar writing. left to right reading order similar to other Mesoamerican scripts. and it may be associated with Middle Formative-period pottery and iconography. For instance. wood. and it more than likely records calendars and events in the lives of elites.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
Maya area of the Yucatán Peninsula. hereditary elites. but the signs probably include noble titles. Unfortunately. including Monte Alban. Radiocarbon dates associated with the excavation of a stone monument at San José Mogote place the sculpture and its two glyph inscriptions at around 600 bc . in addition to Guerrero. Ceramic figurines found by archaeologists at the
226
site of Canton Corralito. and Central America. interregional trade. Olmec civilization had large settlements. The historical context of Mesoamerican writing illuminates the origins and nature of Maya script. Teotihuacán. date the beginnings of writing here to about 500–200 bc .
early maya texts and contexts
Maya writing developed in the tradition of Mesoamerican writing initiated by the Olmec and Zapotec. The presence of different scripts is intriguing since the Maya shared iconographic styles and material culture. 1200–600 bc) with the evolution of politically complex societies of the Olmec in the Gulf Coast region of Mexico. was written either logographically in the Classic period as a jaguar’s head. and portable objects. However. such as the “Humbolt Celt” and “Tlaltenco Celt. Zapotec. which depict captives and sacrificial victims. Recent studies of the stone support its antiquity. Classic Maya texts are read in hieroglyph blocks from top to bottom and from left to right. and calendar dates.” exhibit iconography and short inscriptions. which date to the late pre-contact and post-conquest periods. Monuments at nearby sites. Chiapas. perhaps rulers.” they invented their own hieroglyphs. or the jaguar-head sign with a syllabic ba prefix or ma suffix acting as phonetic complements. The earliest Maya writing differs considerably from Classic to Postclassic times. Early Maya writing occurs on the same media as other scripts. mostly on the monumental Danzante sculptures. they repeat in obvious patterns. Maya writing only became standardized through elite interaction and political expansion during the Classic period. literate peoples in the Gulf Coast or highland Oaxaca influenced Maya writing. Numerous greenstone plaques and celts owned by elites. More than likely. Maya writing was widespread by about 100 bc and it was placed on everything.

and shell objects. deity names. bone. writing. and Takalik Abaj.
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Portable Objects
Personal objects with carved or incised Maya script further exemplify the intersections of art.” which is a common Late Classic Maya title. One glyph may be read ajaw “lord/noble. such as twenty days and twenty years (of 360 days).
. tribute schedules. Numbered day and month signs in the Maya calendar occur on monumental public art. but they are more common in the Classic period. and the named day signs are written in cartouches. Guatemala. such as market days. which speaks to the elevated cultural importance of writing in this area and perhaps to interaction with literate peoples in adjacent highland Oaxaca. is a fascinating aspect of Maya writing.” followed by the person’s name and titles. including the sites of Uaxactun. ThE DEvElOPMEnT Of MAyA wrITInG
The earliest-known Maya writing. The early Maya script predating the Classic period most likely records the names and titles of Maya elites or their gods.” and a cross-hatched lobed “fan-like” symbol meant “zero. For example. importance. during the Classic period. a round moon-like glyph denoted “twenty” or “many. and Copán. their linguistic affiliation is a mystery. buildings. El Portón. a bar placed immediately to the left of the sign for twenty Maya years designated “100 years. the calendars not only marked the timing of rituals and events in the lives of the elite but also were likely used to track periods related to the Maya economy.15. rectangular bars represented the number five. and murals or “public” contexts paralleled other early Mesoamerican scripts. like at the sites of El Baul. and the high artistic quality of the script cannot be overemphasized. such as u baak “his/her bone.” but these later two are more common in the Classic period. during the Classic period. Tikal. Touching the sculptures would accentuate the connection between art and writing. Yaxchilán. The redundant marking of objects with obvious labels. The easiest discernible signs in Maya writing are calendar dates. The appearance of the writing suggests that it may have been used to appeal to the sensation of touch rather than just the senses of sight (seeing) and sound (reading). Like Late Classic Period examples. Importantly. that combined with coefficients to produce larger numbers. Early Maya writing often occurs on carved stone monuments. Maya calligraphy was well developed from the very beginning. and they are frequently large enough to see from a distance. and signs related to the qualities of the objects themselves. or perhaps the names and titles of Maya lords.
carved monuments with writing predominated in the Maya lowlands. Chalchuapa. or possibly head variants as seen in some Late Classic texts. Kaminaljuyu. in addition to drawing attention to their beauty. However. and the writing is associated with Maya material culture and architecture.
Monumental Art
Maya writing on stone stelae. and permanency. Maya writing also occurs as high-relief carvings instead of incising or painting. Chiapa de Corzo. The hieroglyphs are prominently displayed next to images. Dots or fingers stood for the number one. such as his/her “bone” or “jade” on objects made from these materials. these early inscriptions probably include the objects’ owners’ names and titles. Furthermore. local scribal practices. and gift exchanges. Other logographs represented calendar periods.” Many of the earliest Maya inscriptions do not exhibit calendar dates with clear bar and dot numbers. and permanence. script chronologies. The scripts at these centers vary. Conversely. Perhaps the numbers were symbolized by logographs. which indicates an early origin date or direct diffusion of writing. Later objects of carved bone often display texts that mark the kind of object and ownership. Some of the earliest examples of carved Maya writing are on polished jade. and the signs may refer to these gods. The painted glyphs flank depictions of anthropomorphic deities. which dates to 400–200 bc. which may be due to differences in language. their actions. Maya writing on monuments was paired with images of elites or deities indicating the close association between art and script. appears in murals on palace walls at the site of San Bartolo. El Mirador. Scholars assume these texts are in a Maya language since some signs resemble later ones. since they typically have numbers or coefficients from one to nineteen. or localized writing traditions. touch. The early stone monuments are concentrated in the Maya highlands.

and the words could be touched while the objects were being manipulated and read over many generations. Frederico 1995
. sometimes centuries after the object was finished.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
The practice may be due to artistic reasons and for making words permanent. New York: Thames and Hudson. The possible inclusion of personal names and titles in early Maya writing could have been important for recording economic transactions between elites. The script exhibited fine calligraphic style and occurred on elite Maya material culture. The texts did not exist before the rise of elites. or deities associated with the objects. economic. The texts reinforced the artistic quality of the objects and made them more socially and economically important. From the earliest times. Inscriptions with calendar dates may have recorded these transactions underscoring the economic potential of Maya writing. the carved texts would be felt and not erased with use. Thus. who controlled political. In this sense. thus script. interlinked factors that involved interregional interaction and the religious. and social life of the elites. the creation of early Maya writing may have been like the development of historic religious and nativistic texts around the world by indigenous prophets following colonial subjugation. indicating that educated elites learned and transmitted writing from region to region over time. political. touch. The power of words and the person who reads or speaks them has always been central to Mesoamerican politics and religion.
further reading
Coe. According to the nature and context of Maya writing. Maya writing was integrated into the crafting of the objects themselves and their iconography. The permanency of the carved texts was also crucial for social reasons. and read. Additionally. including the Olmec and Zapotec. These permanent words described the qualities. Early Maya writing consisted of different scripts that were used locally by relatively small numbers of people in a restricted interaction sphere. Histories and words could be transmitted to descendents and viewers through time. since fine objects with owners’ names in the Classic period were tribute payments or gifts to other elites. and therefore. regional elites copied earlier literate Mesoamerican cultures and developed writing to possibly communicate religious and political information to gain local power and prestige following interregional interaction with other expanding Mesoamerican polities. Inscribed texts could not be easily erased. then. the first Maya writing developed from earlier Mesoamerican scripts in southern Mexico during a period of growth in complex regional polities and human populations. In the Maya case. elite Maya artists created the texts and designs simultaneously on portable objects and monumental art. the origins and development of the script cannot be attributed to one. The objects with texts describing their qualities and owners would also have had higher cultural and economic value over non-inscribed ones. then the givers’ or previous owners’ names and titles were forever visible for everyone to see. and art cannot be separated. and it arose following extensive interregional interaction. such as tribute payments and gifts. For example. “La transición Preclásico Tardío-Clásico Temprano: El desarrollo de los estados mayas y la
Fahsen Ortega. early permanent texts may have been similar to writing on charms in ancient to modern Europe. However. If the objects were tribute items or gifts. economic. such as the Cherokee script. In this instance. ownership. It appears that some noble scribes added texts at a later date. where the preserved words empowered their creator. this early writing may also have stemmed from economic activity and transaction recording.
the rise of early maya writing
In summary. Maya writing made objects more aesthetically pleasing and thus of greater economic and political value. Maya elites held and manipulated these objects. and religious domains. artifact. Michael 2005 Reading the Maya Glyphs. many early Maya inscriptions were added to the reverse of objects. but rather to many. Sequoyah created the Cherokee written syllables in
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the early nineteenth century following interaction with literate American colonists.

“Early Olmec Writing: Reading Format and Reading Order. 151–62. Stephen 2005 2007
Rice. Frederico. pp. Guatemala.
Justeson. History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. John 2008
Hassig. Prudence M. Maya Calendar Origins: Monuments. and Boris Beltrán 2006
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. edited by John Baines. Mythistory. pp. Austin: University of Texas Press. Time. “Evolutionary Trends in Mesoamerican Hieroglyphic Writing. Joyce 1992 Mesoamerican Writing Systems: Propaganda. edited by Nikolai Grube. John Bennet. William A. pp.” In The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. ThE DEvElOPMEnT Of MAyA wrITInG
escritura. John S. edited by Virginia M. “Writing in Early Mesoamerica. London: Equinox.” In Lords of Creation: The Origins of Sacred Maya Kingship. 323–34. Fahsen. and the Materialization of Time.” Visible Language 24/1: 88–132. Fields and Dorie Reents-Budet. edited by Stephen Houston. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art. and Nikolai Grube 2005 “The Origins of Maya Writing. Austin: University of Texas Press. and Peter Mathews 1991
Saturno.” In The Emergence of Lowland Maya Civilization: The Transition from the Preclassic to the Early Classic. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Monaghan. Myth.” In The Disappearance of Writing Systems: Perspectives on Literacy and Communication.
Marcus.. “Revelatory Scripts. and Stephen Houston.. “Early Maya Writing at San Bartolo. David Stuart.15. 74–79. David 2009
Houston. Markt Schwaben: Verlag Anton Saurwein. pp. and Belief in Aztec and Colonial Mexico.’ and the Appearance and Disappearance of Writing.” Science 311/5765: 1281–83.” Latin American Antiquity 20/3: 395–412. and History in Four Ancient Civilizations. ‘the Unlettered Genius. 274–309. Ross 2001
Mora-Marín.

Six? “years” are completed in lordship [by] Ancestor-Turtle. AIC 1971.” likely in the Usumacinta River region. some twenty-nine years after the death of this presumed depicted ancestor (probably in ad 641). then a ??-bil is erected on 6 Ajaw 18 Ik’ Sihom. the Smoker/Incenser Lord. jwp
translation
Fifteen days. Mexico or Guatemala
21.. and he is said to be from a place called “Bubbling/Gurgling/Upwelling Water. The hieroglyphic text on the top states that an undeciphered object or structure was erected (likely) in ad 670. hieroglyphic cylinder Stone limestone late Classic Maya. 102
102. Turtle-back?. The side text states that the deceased ancestor’s later successor (and possibly grandson) completed a number of years in office as lord. The glyph with his name consists of a rabbit head with a curled element on top. This text demonstrates fairly common aspects of Mayan
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hieroglyphic writing.” and nine and twenty “years” [since] “Rabbit?” died on 2 Chikchan 8 Uniw. His name (possibly “Turtle Back”) and titles (e. gift of Mr.g. Translation by Jeff Buechler
. such as elision of weak consonants and conflation of signs. [the Xukalnah? Lord?]. “Smoker/Incenser Lord”) are given. and Mrs.9 cm
The Art Institute of Chicago.895
102
The top of this miniature “altar” or drum-shaped sculpture depicts what appears to be a deceased ancestor (perhaps in the form of a mummy bundle) ensconced in the earth. he of Bubbling/Gurgling/Upwelling Water. herbert Baker. two “months.vIsIBlE lAnGuAGE
OBjECT dESCripTiON: CATALOg NO.6 x 41. ad 700/800 Possibly Bonampak/lacanha area.

Affixes can form derived words (e.000-year history leading into modern times.
Coptic A script used to write Egyptian that developed through the adaptation of the Greek alphabet in the first century ad.. w or y). Akkadian appears in the written record in Mesopotamia from the mid-third millennium bc to the first century ad.gLOSSAry OF LiNguiSTiC TErMS
monica l. cryptography Writing in code or cipher (adj. including voice..
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. case (grammatical) A grammatical category used to identify and describe the relationship of different elements in a sentence (e. two semi-consonants (e.”. acrophony is also used to describe the practice of naming letters using a word beginning with that letter (the Hebrew alphabet names its letters using acrophony.. representation. Akkadian and the related Eblaite language are the only known East Semitic languages. biliteral A single sign that represents a sequence of either two consonants. each of which represents roughly a phoneme in a language. kaph “palm” is used to name the letter representing the phoneme /k/). person.. It was used as an administrative language of the Assyrians in the first millennium bc and was the everyday language in Israel during the Second Temple period (539 bc–ad 70). It is related to other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and Arabic. A. and Japanese. ad 600–800). alphabet A standardized set of basic written symbols (letters).ene. Modern agglutinative languages include Hungarian.” On the earliest tablets. though certain sections of a text were often marked.g. acrophony The use of a graph or sign to represent only the initial phoneme of the original value of the graph (adj. such as the end of part of a literary text or particular sections of administrative documents. verbs are not inflected.. It belongs to the Maya language family and was thought to be a prestige dialect in the Classical period (ca. The name comes from Latin cuneus (plural cunei). for”) allograph A variant form of the shape of a graph or sign (e.” Demotic The most cursive script used by the ancient Egyptians. cases were often square and contained one sign or a couple of signs. English plural -s has an allomorph [z] when following a voiced consonant dogs [z] vs. Like other cases. The word “Demotic” comes from Greek and means “popular.” distinguish-
Akkadian An extinct language belonging to the East Semitic branch of the Semitic language family.. using consonants and semiconsonants (such as glottal stops. and cases became more linear.g. The Greek term refers to the turns made by plowing oxen (adj. also called bidirectional writing. and nominative marks the subject). look-ed. but rather proto-writing because the system did not record complete sentences or phrases. Some do not consider Aztec script to be true writing. a. affix A morpheme that is attached to the beginning (prefix) or end (suffix) or inserted into (infix) a word stem to form a new word.. cuneiform A writing system used for several different languages in the ancient Middle East from the fourth millennium bc through the first century ad where signs were made by pressing a reed stylus into wet clay. shame-less. Turkish. a language in the Uti-Aztecan language family. Sections of the tablet that were sectioned off by the scribe with straight lines are called “cases. accusative case The marker of the direct object of an action in a sentence. boustrophedonic). case (cuneiform tablet) This refers to the way in which cuneiform tablets were organized and demarcated by the scribe.ra. agglutinative language Agglutination is where affixes are added to a word (e. Assyrian and Babylonian.g. signs began to be written in order within a case.g u10. Six or seven signs from the Demotic script were added to those of the Greek alphabet to represent Egyptian phonemes that Greek lacked.g. Example Sumerian šeš. boustrophedon Writing alternate lines in opposite directions. the accusative must be marked to be described as a case (e. w. Modern Nahuatl is still spoken by about one and a half million indigenous speakers in central Mexico.g. lines of a text were no longer individually separated by the scribe into cases. English distinguishes an accusative case in the personal pronouns “Mary slapped him. e. more signs were included in each case. It developed from hieratic and was written commonly on ostraca or papyrus in ink with a brush or reed. and tense or aspect.g. Ch’oltian Maya An extinct language from Mesoamerica written using Maya hieroglyphs that was spoken in eastern Chiapas and Guatemala. but affixes are attached to a base verb to express the various characteristics of the verbal action.g. buy-ing). and y). Aramaic A Semitic language with a 3. crewS
abecedary A sequential listing of the alphabetic letters of a writing system. “The dog bit me.g. marking the lines of a text. in the modern Latin script). the accusative case marks the direct object of an action. “For my brothers. etc. which means “wedge. or a combination of both.. The script was used to record Nahuatl. cryptographic). aim-less-ly).g.. By the first millennium bc. Agglutinative languages employ agglutination widely throughout the language to express grammatical relationships.” ̂ šeš(noun “brother”)-g u10(1st person ̂ singular possessive suffix “my”)-ene(plural marker)-ra(dative case marker “to. There are two major dialects of Akkadian. See determinative. laugh-able) or inflected forms of words (e. acrophonic). In agglutinative languages. allomorph A variant pronunciation of a morpheme based on neighboring sounds (e. classifier consonantal writing Writing that ignores vowels. a. cryptogram A figure. dog-s. Cuneiform is named for the characteristic wedge shape of the strokes made by the triangular end of a reed stylus. or written symbol with hidden significance.”). As time passed. The Aramaic script was widely adopted for other languages and is related to the Arabic and Hebrew scripts. cats [s]). Aztec (Nahuatl) The Nahuatl writing used by the Aztecs in pre-Columbian central Mexico was a primarily pictographic and ideographic system augmented by the rebus principle and syllabic signs.

sometimes synonymous with sign. or analogy between the form of a sign or graph and its referent. Gelb. Egypt. which were known for their use in sacred contexts. Hittite An extinct language used in ancient Anatolia (modern Turkey) during the second millennium bc. Also called “true writing. lexeme The minimal unit of the vocabulary of a language (e. inflection/inflexion The modification of a word to express different grammatical categories. jump. flower vs. epigraphy The discipline of studying. Eblaite was one of the first Semitic languages to be committed to writing and. the Greek transcriptions reflect the language’s phonemic inventory and pronunciation. separate from its grammar. Amazingly. Example Infixes. s| “duck” and s| “son” could be written using the same graph. located in modern northern Syria.” glyph A figure. mostly.. with the image of Horus sitting atop or next to the serekh. genitive case The marker. determinatives are used to mark words such as place names. and interpreting inscriptions. Graeco-Babyloniaca texts A small group of school tablets from the turn of
the current era that have an Akkadian or Sumerian text on the obverse with a Greek transcription given on the reverse. Hindi. or character engraved. coined by I. Some claim it to be descended from users of Olmec iconography and thus call it EpiOlmec. personal names. etc.
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.. ligature A sign that combines two or more individual signs into one.g.. grammatology The study of writing systems and scripts. such as their use for religious texts. such as Sumerian. passer<s>by. The individual parts of a multi-word lexeme are one word lexemes in other contexts. ignoring vowels (e. The Horus name (king’s name) was usually written inside of a representation of a palace facade. such as spoonful or passerby spoon<s>ful. incised. wooden and metal objects. One commonly cited modern isolate is Basque.” catch on “understand”). city names.. infix An affix that is inserted into the middle of the word to which it is added. These words are called homophones or homonyms. case. ideographic). tense or aspect. by and large “in general. This process gives faience a variety of bright blue-green colors. isolate (linguistic/language) A language without any known language relatives. as is the case with some idiomatic expressions (e. with Akkadian. and the Maya. are extremely rare in English. graph The smallest definable segment in a stretch of writing or print. though common in many languages. and interpretations. lexical Relating to the words or vocabulary of a language. which includes languages such as English. or carved in relief.GlOssAry Of lInGuIsTIC TErMs
ing it from hieratic and hieroglyphics. bear [verb] vs.
iconography A visual representation. These texts date to the very end of the cuneiform tradition. and which takes its name from Elam. hieroglyphs The written symbols of a pictographic writing system characterized by their use in ceremonial or monumental contexts. meanings. Isthmian script A script used in and around the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico during the first few centuries ad. though they
hieratic A cursive script related to Egyptian hieroglyphics that was commonly written in ink on ostraca or papyrus with a reed brush. Anatolia. jumped. Elamite was one official language of the Persian empire from about the sixth to the fourth century bc. of possession. Lexemes can be one word or multiple words. Example In Sumerian and Akkadian. but does not assume descent from Olmec. It was the official language of the Mittani empire in the mid-second millennium bc. but Isthmian is a preferred label since it indicates the geographical range of the texts. and jumping are forms of the English lexeme jump). despite the fact that both languages had long ceased to be spoken. or the study of the visual arts and their subjects. and the scholarly endeavor of describing semantic (and other) relationships between words in the lexicon (vocabulary) (adj. on temple walls. is one of the only known members of the East Semitic branch of the Semitic language family. such as number. homophony When words with different meanings have the same pronunciation. and Russian. Homonyms may or may not share a logographic sign or alphabetic spelling (e. during the midthird millennium bc. epistolary Relating to or written in the form of a letter or correspondence. Greek. for example. Eblaite An extinct Semitic language centered at the city of Ebla.g. employed different and unrelated systems of hieroglyphic writing. diachronic Relating to the study of phenomena (such as of a language or culture) as they change over time. lexicographic or lexicographical). but it can be used to mark other grammatical functions depending upon the language (e. determinative A silent graphic device where a graph or sign is used to classify a word belonging to a particular semantic category. resemblance. or on stone monuments. in Egyptian. in Sumerian. lexicography The craft of compiling and writing dictionaries. Infixation in English sometimes occurs with the plural for certain words. who inhabited northern Mesopotamia during the end of the third through the second millennium bc. bear [noun]. glottographic (system) Referring to a system of communication that represents speech so that the language is recoverable from the system itself.g. symbol.g. especially ancient inscriptions. Hurrian belongs to the Hurro-Urartian language family along with Urartian. J. iconicity The similarity. had not been spoken in nearly two millennia. the romance languages. which is spoken in Spain and France. logo-consonantal (script) Where logorams are extended phonetically to express the consonants of the words they represent. among others. gender. and conventional meanings associated with a visual image. Elamite An extinct language with no known language relatives that was used by the Elamites. divine names. faience (Egyptian) a non-clay-based ceramic composed of crushed quartz or sand with a surface finished by glass transition or vitrification. a symbolic representation. Hittite belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. The Greek transcriptions give indications of the pronunciation of both Akkadian and Sumerian. even though Sumerian. deciphering.g. called a serekh. Horus name The oldest attested name of an Egyptian king.
Hurrian The extinct language of the Hurrian people. ideogram/ideograph A sign or graph that represents an idea or concept such as the graphs used to write “above” and “below” in Chinese (adj. the gentive case is marked by the morpheme -ak e2 dig ˜irak “the house of the god” or “the god’s house”). a city located in modern Iran. sometime between 50 bc and ad 50. flour).. and certain kinds of animals and professions.

Mixtec writing Mixtec writing incorporated pictorial representations of scenes and events with a logographic writing system. Phoenician An extinct Semitic language that was spoken in the coastal area of the Levant in what was Canaan in ancient times. paleographic). especially ancient. the phonetic inventory of a language is the inventory of all its phones. Syria. the phoneme /w/ can be voiced or voiceless without affecting meaning).. The various pronunciations of a single phoneme are known as allophones. etc. phonetic complement A sign that gives part of the phonetic rendering of a logogram that has multiple readings (English writing often uses phonetic complements when writing ordinal numbers 1st. “counting heads” means “counting people”) or visually in a script (e. including parts of modern Lebanon. In particular. morphogram A graph or sign that represents the most basic form of a morpheme regardless of pronunciation (e. or of which it is a part. This is in contrast to logograms (which represent words or morphemes) and determinatives (which are not pronounced). Luvian/Luwian An extinct Indo-European language spoken in Anatolia during the second and first millennia bc. phonology The systematic use of sound to encode meaning in spoken language. where difference in meaning is distinguished with variations in tone and vocal inflection. A monosyllabic language consists primarily of words that are one syllable in length.g. logogram A written symbol (sign or graph) that represents a word. phoneme Any one of the set of speech sounds that convey a distinction in meaning between words..g. phoneticism The phonetic representation of speech sounds. The Maya script is one of the best understood but not the earliest writing of ancient Mesoamerica. such as an alphabetic writing system. morphological).. morphography Using graphs or signs to represent morphemes based on meaning rather than sound. phone Any speech sound in a language.” logo-syllabic (script) Where logograms are extended phonetically to express syllables (e. pars pro toto Latin for “(taking) part for the whole.. Palaic An extinct Indo-European language attested in the Hittite capital of Hattusa during the second millennium bc.
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. /b/ and /p/ are two phonemes in English bit and pit. Old Persian One of two attested Old Iranian languages alongside Avestan. Luvian was written using both cuneiform and Anatolian hieroglyphs.g. Algeria. the English plural -s as pronounced in dogs [z] and cats [s]). Hebrew. walk-ed). harm. but it is not attested until around the eighth century bc. many of the phonetic symbols in Mixtec writing are used to represent tone. Mixtec is a tonal language. Mixtec belongs to the Oto-Manguean language family in Mexico. morphophonemic A change in the pronunciation of a morpheme when in contact with other sounds (e.g. 520 bc). using a ostraca Pieces of pottery or stone. monosyllabic Consisting of one syllable. Unlike phonemes.. Olmec script A script used by the Olmec people in Mesoamerica. The latter are called bound morphemes because they only occur when combined with other morphemes. respectively). metonymy Where a word or concept is substituted for another word or concept to which it is closely related... English plural -s is written with the mor-
phogram s despite the fact that in certain phonetic contexts it has the pronunciation [z] dogs [z].g. paleography is the study of the physical characteristics of a script (adj. the phonemic inventory of a language is the inventory of all its phonemes).. 550–330 bc).g. of the subject of a verb or predicate verb (e. walk) or parts of words (e. that are regarded as identical by the speaker (e. part of a language family found in Mesoamerica.g. Some logograms used in written English include % “percent” and & “and.. birds [z] vs.
pictograph of an animal’s head to represent the entire animal or set of animals). Maya script A logo-syllabic. Sumerian logograms a “water” and gi “reed” are also used to express the phonetic syllables a and gi/ge. Old South Arabian A consonantal alphabetic script used around the southern edge of the Arabian Peninsula.g. phoneticize To represent speech with a system of graphs or signs corresponding to speech sounds (noun: phoneticization).g. It was the first language deciphered that used a cuneiform script. writing and forms of writing. plants [s]). orthographic). The Phoenician script was a non-pictographic consonantal alphabet that became one of the most widely used scripts. in which Darius (550–486 bc) takes credit for inventing the Old Persian cuneiform script. or speech sounds). This can be done either verbally (e. who lived in the tropical regions of Mexico from about 1250 to 400 bc. and Malta. harm-ful. and Arabic.). Thus. or phones.. bat and pat are distinct words because the first phoneme of each word is distinct. hieroglyphic script used in ancient Mesoamerica during the first millennium ad to write mostly a Ch’oltian Maya language. morphology The structure and form of words as well as the linguistic study of those structures (adj. phonetic Relating to the speech sounds of a language (e.g. It was adapted to write Greek and Aramaic. Tunisia. phonogram A graph or sign used to represent sound rather than meaning. It is believed to have split from the Proto-Sinaitic script as early as 1300 bc. 2nd. which were both adapted further to write Latin. It is closely related to Hittite. phonographic (system) When a writing system uses graphs or signs that represent sounds (phonograms). In Akkadian the nominative case is marked with the morpheme -um added to the end of a noun awīlum illik “the man went”).. in English. We have eight manuscripts that use Mixtec writing and cover a span from about ad 940 to 1550. 3rd.) One phoneme may have several pronunciations. in English..g. generally. Morphemes can be entire words (e. nominative case The marker. Old Persian was first attested in the written record during the time of the Achaemenid dynasty (ca. (e.g. cats [s]. The oldest Old Persian inscription is the Behistun inscription (ca. song. morpheme The smallest unit of meaning in a language.GlOssAry Of lInGuIsTIC TErMs
likely were pronounced with different vowels).g.” pars pro toto is where part of an object or concept is used to represent the entire object or concept (e. song-s. phonemic Relating to the phonemes of a language (e. using a pictograph of an animal’s head to represent the whole animal). paleography The study and scholarly interpretation of earlier. Israel. orthography The study of spelling and the rules governing the use of written symbols in a standardized system (adj. phones comprise all the speech sounds of a given language regardless of meaning or distinction between words..

iptarsū “They have cut”. located in the northwest of modern-day Syria near the modern town of Ras Shamra. for example.g. It was written using a consonantonly alphabetic cuneiform script. synchronic Relating to the study of phenomena (such as of language or culture) of one period without reference to historical antecedents. radical Any one of the consonants or semi-consonants belonging to a root. and other ancient writing systems with more familiar alphabetic characters. and so on). the capital of which was located near Lake Van in eastern Turkey. In Akkadian. sign A written character that conveys meaning through a word. syllabogram A written graph or sign that represents a syllable.g. object. syllable The smallest segment of speech pronunciation that must contain one vowel and may or may not contain one or more consonants or semi-consonants. w or y). semantic range = the range of possible meanings incorporated by a word).
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.” zu2 “tooth. syssemantograph A graph where two or more elements with distinct meanings are joined together to represent a third meaning (e. in Sumerian. In Mesopotamia. polyphony When words with different pronunciations are represented with the same sign or graph. It belongs to the Hurro-Uraritan language family with Hurrian. protoliterate A term referring to the very earliest stages of writing in ancient Mesopotamia. the Akkadian verb šapāru has three radicals špr).). sometimes synonymous with graph.” among others. The Protoliterate period includes. phonological). phonophoric-syssemantograph When two or more elements with distinct meanings are joined together to represent a third meaning. and Guatemala. *prs is the verbal root of parāsum “to cut. semagram See determinative. referent The entity in the external world to which a spoken or written expression refers.” This combination is said to mean “a man standing by his word. prefix An affix that precedes the element to which it is added (e.. These graphs are called pictographs or pictograms. tokens are small clay counters used throughout Mesopotamia in various accounting systems in the fourth millennium bc.. which were impressed onto wet clay to write cuneiform signs. pictography Writing using signs or graphs that express meaning through a graphic resemblance to a real-life object. It is estimated that there are over half a million current speakers of Zapotec languages in the world. semiotic). or can be. etching. syllable. the root of mice is mouse. triliteral A single sign that represents a sequence of three consonants or semiconsonants (e. iparras “He will cut”. Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite A consonantal alphabetic writing system that was used in several inscriptions in the Sinai. among others. semiotics The study of signs and symbols. a phonetic complement. or concept. including the Uruk IV and III stages of the scirpt. the root of taxation is tax. Zapotec A family of related languages in Mesoamerica spoken by the Zapotec people from the southwestern-central highlands of Mexico. love-ly).” gu3 “voice.
verbal root The base form of a verb before inflection or the addition of affixes. decide” (purus “Decide!”. which make the signs difficult to identify and decipher.. semantograph A pictograph designed to represent a conceptual word. the sign da “side” can also be used to write the homophonous comitative verbal affix da “with”). and syllables with the same or shared sounds (e...
in Mexico which began to be used around ad 350 or 450. reeds were cut to make styli. It died out as a spoken language at some point in the late third or early second millennium bc but continued to be used as a written scholarly language up through the first millennium bc. which is also represented in the Maya script. root The base form of a word before inflection or the addition of affixes (in English. whether natural or artificial (adj.g. verbal roots in Semitic languages often consist of two or three (sometimes more) consonants because vowels as well as the reduplication or infixation of consonants are dependent upon the form of the verb.”) Teotihuacán script A Mesoamerican script named after the city Teotihuacán
Ugaritic An extinct Semitic language dating to the thirteenth century bc in Ugarit. the sign
ent words including ka “mouth. syllabary A set of graphs or signs that represent syllables.g.
ka can be used to write several differ-
sealing A term used to refer to the impression made by a cylinder or stamp seal on wet clay. uniliteral A single sign that represents either one consonant or one semi-consonant (e. in Chinese “man” + “language” = “trust. hieroglyphs. They can be simple (without markings) or complex (with markings and incisions). For example. and thus the ideas represented can be verbally communicated in any number of ways in any language.” semasiographic (system) Referring to a system of communication that only represents ideas. the Uruk IV and Uruk III phases of writing and lasts up until about 2900 bc.
stylus A writing utensil used by impressing. Urartian was first attested in the ninth century bc and appears in the written record through the sixth century bc. Semasiographic systems are not bound to speech. tokens Considered precursors to writing.
serekh An Egyptian word for a rectangular representation of a palace facade inside of which a king’s name was written. The ancient Zapotec script is hieroglyphic. morphemes. etc.
rebus principle Extending the use of existing pictograms or graphs to represent other words. Egypt. animal. Urartian The extinct language of ancient Urartu.g. Transliteration is used by modern scholars to represent cuneiform. or.” dug4 “speak.
Example
In Sumerian.g.g. and where one or more component is.
proto-cuneiform A term referring to the earliest phases of the archaic cuneiform script.GlOssAry Of lInGuIsTIC TErMs
The study of the way sound functions in any given language (adj.. the root itself (e. semantic Referring to the meaning of a word (e. un-known).. transliteration The transcription of the graphs or signs of one writing system into those of another. or one or more phonemes. or incising the writing material. Yucatec Maya A Maya language spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula. northern Belize. A referent can be a person. suffix An affix that follows the element to which it is added (e. in certain cases. w or y).g. morpheme. such as “above” or “below. Sumerian A language with no known language relatives that was used in ancient Mesopotamia. the root of singing is sing.. It combined word signs of a nominal and titular nature with narrative or pictographic scenes.” and inim “word. and Canaan during the second millennium bc.